It's Been A While
by halfcurehalfdisease
Summary: After an unpleasant parting of ways three years ago, Silver and Lyra unite in a wild search to find one of Lyra's Pokemon after it has been spirited away in an unsettling manner. Their search will lead them far from home, and to places they never even dreamed of going...to places they didn't even know existed. Rated T for Language and Implied Content. Contains Soulsilvershipping.
1. Three Years

Silver opened his eyes, staring at the bleak branches of a snow-coated tree in midwinter, and immediately remembered that he was alone, as always.

He sat up, thrusting himself out of his sleeping bag. Beating the snow off of it, he rolled it up and shoved it in the backpack he'd been using for the past seven years. Someone had bought it for him in the Goldenrod City department store, much to his chagrin at the time, and he could almost still catch her aroma whenever he picked it up.

A pang filled his chest at the thought of her, but he dismissed it gruffly. He'd had roughly three years to get over the fact that he'd ruined things with Lyra, the only person who'd ever really cared about him.

It didn't change the fact that he loved her, even though she looked at him with a dull ache every time she saw him.

In fact, he'd seen her just three days ago in his latest attempt at defeating the Elite Four. Her darkened gaze seemed to stab him vigorously through the heart in the way that her brown eyes and easy smile used to. However, that hadn't been a pleasant stab when she looked at him with a look that was not at all hers.

He wanted to die when her eyes locked onto his with that expression.

"Ral?" Silver glanced over to see his Feraligatr gazing at him. These days, the Pokémon didn't let Silver as much as bring a Pokeball near him without growling. Sometimes Silver wondered if Feraligatr worried that his redheaded Trainer would take his own life or do something to harm himself. After all, it wasn't exactly that far-fetched of a plan.

Silver stumped over, stiff from six hours spent sleeping in the chill surrounding the Lake of Rage after some vigorous training, and patted Feraligatr on the head. "I'm not going to do myself in, you fool," he said, faint affection in his voice. Long ago, there wouldn't have been any kind emotion in his voice at all, talking to his Feraligatr. "If I would've done it, you know it would've been after what I did when I was fourteen."

Gathering his scant belongings, he headed south, toward Mahogany Town.

"…and so after the Hoenn, Marill and I have been in the Sinnoh, trying to figure out the differences in behavior between Johto Marill and Sinnoh Marill. Really, there aren't many, but Sinnoh Marill seem like they're not too bright. Anyway, what've you been up to in the past few years, Lyra?"

Lyra and her long-time friend, Ethan, were eating in a café in the Goldenrod City. They hadn't seen in each other in at least two and a half years, having split up to follow their own paths in life. However, as soon as Ethan directly asked what she'd been up to, Lyra nearly choked on a mouthful of Caesar salad. Swallowing the lump of bitter greens, she twirled one of the ends of her hair nervously. "This and that. I lost my title of Champion to Red again, just yesterday," she said, settling on that answer. It would occupy Ethan. He adored the majorly silent Trainer…and didn't exactly realize that Red was pointedly silent with him and not so much with Lyra—at least, he used to be chatty with Lyra. Regardless, Red actually knew a number of excellent off-color jokes about Blue Oak and his world-renowned grandfather, for example, and most of them had some seriously inappropriate and unexpected punch lines.

Ethan's eyes sparked, thankfully. She wouldn't have to get into the dirty details of what had happened since her fourteenth birthday. "Really? Which of his Pokémon did you in? His Charizard? His Pikachu?"

"His Lapras, actually. It got my Arcanine with Brine. I shouldn't have hit it with that Flamethrower, but I was getting tired of the battle." She stirred the lemonade sitting near her and gazed moodily out the window. Lyra wasn't particularly upset about the loss. She was tired of dodging an overly theatrical Will's pathetic romantic advances and falling prey to a bored Koga's ninja traps, anyway. Plus, Karen and Bruno hadn't exactly been the best company, anyway, being fairly moody and ungodly intense respectively. "I might challenge him again and get back my title someday, but for now, I'm pretty happy without it. I'm actually looking forward to not having any obligation for a while."

Ethan patted his Marill, who was busily munching on a platter full of Oran berries. "You sure? You've been defending that title for years, Lyra."

She shrugged and gave her best smile. "I should work on my Pokedex, anyway. Professor Oak is getting antsy."

Gray eyes directed toward her, Ethan frowned. He leaned forward, gazing at her. "Lyra, I haven't seen you in person for a few years, but I still know when something's wrong with you, and now is one of those times," he said, studying her face.

_I battled Silver three days ago. I missed him so much. He was one of my only challenges a few years ago, but I messed up not long after you left. I wanted to apologize for everything and just talk about the stupid things we used to talk about. But I couldn't. I almost lost to him. And then I lost to someone I thought I was able to trust and like, _she silently explained, but out loud she responded, "Nope. I'm just tired. I was Champion on and off for six years, Ethan."

Giving her a few seconds' more scrutiny, he shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah. You do look kind of frazzled and tired," he decided. He pointed at her bag. "So what Pokémon do you have now?"

"I have Typhlosion, Arcanine and Xatu with me right now," she said, naming three of her original Pokémon, "and three months ago I evolved the Eevee that Bill gave me into a Glaceon by trading it to a pen pal of mine in the Sinnoh. Professor Elm gave me a Mienfoo that was traded to him from some other girl who owns a Pokedex in a different region. Plus, Steven Stone from the Hoenn gave me a Mudkip." She released the Mudkip, who immediately cuddled against her. He was very young, timid, and seemed to not take himself very seriously—training him was going to be difficult, but Lyra accepted the challenge.

Ethan looked at the amphibious little Pokémon and smiled. "Hey, Marill, look! It's a Mudkip! You remember the one we met in the Hoenn region, right?" Marill quit eating for long enough to take a look at the Hoenn starter, shrug, and then resume eating.

Giggling at the Marill's actions, she stroked Mudkip's head fin. _If only my little friend here took after Silver's Feraligatr. _Thinking of the redhead returned her to a somber state, and Mudkip immediately noticed. He nuzzled her hand, murmuring, "Mudkip, mud." She continued petting him, hoping Ethan wouldn't notice her sudden mood swing.

The two talked a while longer and then parted ways. Ethan was headed back to Newbark Town to celebrate his little sister's fourteenth birthday—had she ever grown up quickly!—and Lyra decided she'd head up to Ecruteak City and stay with the Kimono Girls for a night. Kuni claimed that her Vaporeon wanted to meet Lyra's Glaceon. How she knew that when she couldn't understand her Pokémon's language, Lyra couldn't exactly be sure, but she'd play along with it. She needed something to do, anyway.

Returning Mudkip to his Pokeball in preparation for the snowy cold outside, she left the restaurant and entered the swirling white atmosphere of Goldenrod City in the winter.

"Silver! How's that Sneasel of yours doing?"

The redhead leapt about a mile at the sound of the crotchety old Gym Leader's voice. _He can still really creep up on me… _"Damn it, Pryce!" Silver sputtered, jumping from his seat outside of the town's run-down little shop. His Feraligatr chortled at the scene, which earned him a glower from Silver. "And are you senile? The idiot's a Weavile now! How long were you standing there?" Silver asked Pryce tetchily, making a horrible attempt at masking his jumpiness with irritation.

The old man poked at him with his cane. "A few minutes, you dolt. What were you doing? Was your _head _in the clouds, boy?" he asked. Pryce rarely smiled—much like Silver, in that sense—but his old, sharp eyes often expressed what he was feeling far more than the rest of his face did, anyway. Since they were both such grouchy people, Lyra had made them talk and train together back in the day, leading to this strange almost-friendship they had.

And, of course, his thoughts were back to Lyra.

Pryce lifted an eyebrow. "Answer me this: were you thinking about the ex-Champion?"

"Lance? Red?" Silver asked, confused. _Either way, I hate both of them, but especially Red. He always seemed to like Lyra so much._

Whacking him in the stomach with his cane, Pryce snapped, "No, Lyra! She lost her title to Red again, stupid! It was just yesterday or the day before, I think."

"Oh." _That's my fault, then. I think I broke her heart, showing up like that. How stupid was I? If she knew what was good for her, she'd be angry at me for tripping her up like that. _He sat down again on the bench that had recently been installed outside of the shop, staring at his feet with hard, garnet-like eyes.

Pryce stooped to stare at the young man. "If anyone's going to be sitting, it might as well be me," he grumbled and then plopped down heavily beside Silver. He tweaked Feraligatr's tail fondly. "Hey, Toothy," he started, using his affectionate name for the Water-type starter, "did he at least manage to apologize to Lsyra when the two battled?"

Silver whirled on the old man. "How do you know that? I didn't even tell you that we'd battled!" he yelled, earning the attention of a little girl playing with a Swinub nearby. Feraligatr again chortled at his master but then shook his head solemnly to Pryce. _He doesn't really know how to, in spite of the passing of three years, _his wise, crocodilian eyes seemed to say.

Pryce gazed at Silver and crossed his arms. "Well, was the battle worth it, at least?"  
"No. I probably totally screwed things up for her when Red came in to challenge her after me," he said. "You know what I did to her. She had this pained look on her face during the battle. She almost lost, too."

"Well, way to go. You helped unseat the Champion," Pryce joked, clapping the young man on the shoulder. Silver swallowed his nausea and remembered how Lyra looked before he came in. It was undoubtedly a worn-down look about her—it was not at all like her. Sure, she'd been tired at times when she'd travelled around the Kanto with Silver when she was thirteen. But this was something else entirely.

He almost equated her to being world-weary, like him.

Silver glanced up at Pryce. "Quit joking around, baldy. I think she's depressed."

"She's been slowly losing purpose, just like you."

"PRYCE!" Silver snarled, scaring the little girl and her Swinub. Receiving a fierce glare from Feraligatr, he lowered his voice. "You think I don't know that?"

Tapping his cane thoughtfully, Pryce scratched under Feraligatr's jaw before replying, "You're awfully worried about her. You still love her?"

"…never said I did, but yeah." Silver pointedly watched his Feraligatr, who shot him a dopey grin of self-satisfaction. _Never asked for your opinion, you fool, _Silver thought at his Pokémon with a pointed look.

Pryce against whacked Silver with his cane, earning a few choice words from the seventeen year old. "Then apologize, you idjit! Better late than never! Even if it's too late, at least you know you did what you could with the ridiculous amount of time you gave yourself, you damned procrastinator! Plus…" he shot a look at Silver. "I could call her. See what she's up to in the pretense of knowing what she's doing with herself, now that she isn't the Champion for the time being. Then I'll send you wherever she is."

_That isn't a horrible idea, coming from this geezer, _Silver thought, exchanging glances with his vigorously-nodding Feraligatr. His strongest Pokémon endorsed it; it couldn't be so horrible, could it?

Smacking the young man with the cane one more time for good luck, he fished a dented Pokegear from his pocket. Without as much as asking Silver for consent, he dialed Lyra's number.

Lyra was in the National Park chatting with a young Bug Catcher about the pros and cons of evolving a Scyther into Scizor when her Pokegear rang. "Excuse me a moment," she apologized to the boy, and she dug into the pocket of her red pea coat to answer the phone. "Hello?"  
"Hello, Lyra," said the raspy voice of Pryce. The old man's sudden call startled her; he so very rarely used his Pokegear these days. "I heard about your defeat by Red."

She sighed. _Is this what I'll be hearing from the Gym Leaders now? _"It came down to the wire, but we lost. Red's always been better me, and he really showed it this time." She grimaced a bit at the thought of the Trainer. He was just another guy who managed to be there for her and suddenly disappear, no thanks to her stupid, sunny attitude.

Oddly, she heard a crash and a muffled curse that didn't come from Pryce in the background. Pryce sighed and replied, "The young man is certainly a tough one. But, Lyra, what are your plans now that you're not Champion? Are you going to regain your title?"

"No." The answer shocked even her. She'd worked so hard for her title; in fact, she stole it back from Lance twice now and Red once. But yet she didn't want it anymore. Lyra realized she was exhausted on a number of levels and just wanted to do something less stressful. "Tonight, I'm staying with some friends and goofing off, but I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of my life yet…and I kind of like that," she admitted.

Pryce harrumphed. "You youngsters and your capriciousness. Where are you at?"

"I'm in the National Park, but I'm headed up to Ecruteak. Kuni of the kimono girls invited me over to show her my Glaceon and gossip," she said sheepishly. Pryce didn't have time for that sort of story.

He seemed to shrug as he responded, "Good. Do as young ladies do and have some fun for a while. You were very worn out, last I saw you."  
"Thanks, Pryce. Do you want to battle sometime soon?" she asked, knowing that she could easily take him down these days even if only three Pokémon of her current party were from her original Championship one.

"No! Just relax and head to Ecruteak and have fun, kiddo. If you see Morty, tell him you're not battling. And then whack him upside the head like so. He borrowed my favorite pair of snowshoes and didn't return them like the miscreant that he is." He abruptly hung up, leaving Lyra to wonder exactly why the cool-eyed Morty had ever needed a pair of snowshoes. Hadn't he always hated snow?

She gave it little extra thought and bade the Bug Catcher she'd been talking to a good evening and headed north through swirling snow. Ecruteak City was on her radar now.

Silver waited impatiently with a throbbing hand from where Pryce last whacked him with his cane as the old man complained about the kimono girls. "They're always getting themselves stuck in the Ice Path and then I have to save their sorry behinds or call Clair to do it, and Clair is never pleased when I ask her to do things. She has little respect for other women. I don't know how Lyra managed to befriend her _and _the kimono girls on the side, but she did it. She's a miracle worker."

As Pryce took a breath, Silver held out his good hand to silence the old man. "Look. If you hadn't noticed, I need to get to Ecruteak City!" he growled, pointing toward the route heading back toward Ecruteak. "You're right about one thing, and I really do have to try and set things right. So, geezer, I have to run."

"DON'T CALL ME GEEZER!" Pryce roared and lobbed a hastily-made snowball at Silver's back as the young man trotted off with his Feraligatr tottering along behind him. The redhead shot a brief gesture at him that wasn't necessarily kind before disappearing from Pryce's sight.

The old man sighed and plopped down on the bench. "I tell you," he said to no one in particular, aside from one slightly bemused girl and her equally-disturbed Swinub, "if I'd had that conversation with Silver years ago, things wouldn't have unraveled this much between them. I daresay the young man doesn't know how to say sorry. Well, at least Lyra's a good person to learn with. She's far too kind. If someone hasn't already taken advantage of her, someone else certainly will." He dusted the snow off his slacks and hobbled back to his Gym. The doors closed behind him, leaving a quiet world of white snow behind him.

* * *

_A/N: Welcome to my first-ever fanfic posted for others to see. I'm glad that you're reading this!_

_A few things to note:_

_I know Silver's Sneasel stays a Sneasel in the games, but come on. I doubt the power-hungry redhead could resist temptation with a Weavile involved.  
_

_I've always interpreted Pryce's character as being that crotchety old man who manages quite a bit of sass. I mean, he doesn't seem like the sweetest guy in the HG/SS or in the originals. _

_And I'm sorry for the slow first chapter, but I need to set things in motion a little here. Plus, if you're worried that I'm not describing Pokemon physically much, I've heard this before, and I just think that anyone reading Pokemon fics must know what a Feraligatr or a Swinub looks like. They're not my first description priority.  
_

_Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you'd like!_


	2. Afternoon in Ecruteak City

Lyra entered Ecruteak City just as the snow stopped falling. Here the air was cold, but the snow coverage was considerably less. The quaint feel of the city in the sluggishness of mid-afternoon, covered in snow and scented like autumn in spite of the current freeze, warmed Lyra somewhat. She released her Typhlosion for further warmth. It had been a while since they'd walked together due to the entrance of Mienfoo and Mudkip, but Typhlosion didn't have too many hard feelings. She tackle-hugged her Trainer to the ground and licked her face. _Long time no see, Trainer! _Typhlosion's gesture seemed to say.

"Hey, stop that!" Lyra half-chuckled, propelling herself back onto her feet. She dusted snow from her jeans and gave a wave to a number of people who'd gathered in concern for the girl's safety. "It's okay. She's just touchy-feely," she said, referring to her starter with a grin that pulled at the left side of her face more than her right side.

"Oh! Lyra! You're here!" Lyra watched as the small crowd parted to reveal a young woman, roughly eighteen years old or so, with dark hair hanging in twin braids down her back and an oversized parka that swallowed her small frame. _Who the heck is that? _Lyra couldn't help but think.

The girl with dark hair ran up to Lyra and hugged her, earning a growl from Typhlosion. "It's me! Kuni! I know you haven't seen me outside of my kimono girl look in a few years, but really?" she demanded, pulling back and mock-glowering at Lyra.

"I've heard you speak without being formal maybe twice in the past three years," Lyra added, patting Kuni on the shoulders. "Hi, by the way."

Kuni gave a bow. "It's good to see you, Lyra. Come with me; you look cold. The others aren't here now; they're doing community services to promote our theatre around the region. Mine was in Cianwood and that was talking at their pharmacy and taking pictures with people. With my Vaporeon, that was less than a day's trip. So I'm the only one here right now," she information-bombed, leading Lyra and her Typhlosion away from the crowd and toward the Dance Theatre. Out of costume, Kuni was chatty and often quite impulsive, chattering about anything and everything on her mind…regardless of how offensive or strange it might seem. She also had a penchant to play Voltorb Flip for hours on end in Goldenrod City if she wasn't careful. Lyra wasn't sure how many times she'd had to rescue the girl from her apparently strong gambling addiction.

She was also a little disappointed that Kuni's fellow kimono girls weren't present. They were all fun, mostly agreeable young women, even in their stately, traditionalistic personas that Lyra most often met.

Lyra smiled. "It's kind of nice, not being stuck in the League all day anymore."

"I can see that getting dull very quickly," Kuni said disdainfully. "Did you redecorate after you re-defeated Lance last time? That was a seriously stodgy place, last time I tried to challenge that son of a b****."  
"I took out the golden statues. They were annoying. Otherwise, not really," Lyra responded.

The two girls and an unrepentant Typhlosion arrived at the mostly-vacant Dance Theatre. Kuni held the door open for Lyra and motioned her Typhlosion through. Following with delicate footsteps, she shut the door…and then let out a massive, rattling cough that almost toppled her from her standing position. "Kuni!" Lyra yelped, but the girl held up a hand, clearing her throat.

Kuni looked up, brown eyes moist with pain. "Sorry. I had a very bad cough for a while, and it still gets me now and then," she said, thumping her chest. She began to remove her coat, revealing an oversized indigo sweater paired with gray leggings._ That girl always loved her blues. _ "So, are you still dating Red?" she asked bluntly, hanging up her coat next to the door.

Lyra's face burned unpleasantly at the thought of her ex. "I went on a couple of dates with him four months ago. I don't think that really counts as dating. Besides, we decided we're better together as friends, anyway." Thinking of Red, aptly-named in consideration of his russet eyes, wasn't something she really wanted to do, especially since she certainly had a short-lived burst of romantic feelings for him. The thought of love still appalled her in a way that was reminiscent of a young, naïve trainer named Joey when he saw Lyra's blue-haired cousin Kris and her friend Ethan swapping a kiss a few years ago.

Smirking, Kuni padded over to Lyra and began unbuttoning her jacket, retorting, "Ah well. You two would've been cute together, but I still think you and Silver would've made an even cuter couple."

Lyra sputtered, lost for words. _He hates me! _She thought vehemently, shooting a helpless glance at her Typhlosion, who was busy brushing snow out from behind her ears. _I screwed up, and I know he hates me. The look on his face when he battled me…it was so sad. I hurt him, and it might've been a few years, but it's still…ugh._

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you two still aren't talking to each other over something really dumb, but I'll let that slide for now. You look exhausted," Kuni said in a matter-of-fact voice as she took Lyra's jacket over to the wall. Meanwhile, Lyra took a look around, noting the place was somewhat dustier than it usually was. The stage lights were low and the cushions in the audience were not as orderly as they usually were. She also noted a scorch mark in the perfect shape of a Fire blast on the wall and warping in a corner that possibly had something to do with the concussion from a Psychic attack.

"You've had some battles in here, eh, Kuni?" Lyra said, noticing that Typhlosion sniffed the scorch mark with interest.

She laughed. "Oh, yes. Silver was here about a week and a half ago, you know."  
_Why is it that I can't escape Silver today? _Both Lyra and Typhlosion looked over with wary interest. _I thought she said she was going to drop that subject, _Typhlosion seemed to say.

Kuni grinned. "That Alakazam of his is one serious beast."

"Silver doesn't have any Fire-types, though," Lyra murmured, padding over to the scorch mark and settling her palm over it. Her imagination conjured the warmth of a flame, and she flinched away. "Who did this monster of a mark?" she asked, chuckling a bit.

Kuni glanced at it as she trotted over to Lyra. "Oh, I think that was Blue Oak and his Arcanine—that one's actually scarier than yours, you know. Anyway, he popped in here to see one of us, but we never figured out which." She gazed curiously at Lyra. "They both asked about you."  
"Huh?" Lyra had already begun to examine the warp in the wall caused by Alakazam's Psychic attack—promptly she'd lost track of the conversation, just like she would've when she was ten years old and trotting around with a Cyndaquil that was sometimes terrified of her own shadow and a Wooper that often tripped over his own feet.

Kuni smiled. "Blue and Silver. Blue just wanted to make sure that you hadn't forgotten he existed so he could someday come and avenge his loss to you—seriously, go battle him someday. He's still pissed about your last battle. And Silver…well…he drops by quite a bit. He always asks me a ton about you, since he knows we were always pretty friendly and we call each other a lot. I think he's worried about you, knowing that you two haven't spoken in ages."

"I—" Lyra was interrupted by the door swinging open. A willowy girl of about fourteen with tousled brunette hair done into a loose bun and hazy light green eyes tottered in, a Leafeon at her heels. She was dressed in an emerald-tone kimono oddly paired with furry brown snow boots and stood easily six inches taller than Lyra, who was sixteen and a half.

This odd girl gave a massive sigh. "Kuni, it's so cold out there. I had to use an Ice Heal on Leafeon twice—oh wow! Is that Lyra, the Champion?" the girl asked, her eyes bugging at the sight of the girl. Without waiting for an answer, the girl ran to Lyra and gave an elaborate bow. "I'm Reika, and you're like my favorite Champion, you know," she said, gazing at her feet. The Leafeon behind her cocked his head, leaf-like ears pricked curiously.

Bemused by the younger girl, Lyra smiled. She didn't have the heart to correct her about the lost Champion status. "Um…nice to meet you."

Kuni sighed and grabbed Reika by the shoulders. Her facial expression was anything but warm and inviting. "This is my cousin from the Sinnoh region. She's in training to become the sixth member of our group, but unfortunately, she can't seem to follow directions, and she may soon get booted out of training entirely." She turned Reika around and growled, "You're supposed to be at Grandma's until tomorrow morning, remember? You aren't supposed to be here right now."  
She swallowed nervously and sighed. "I guess. But she spends all of her time yelling at me," she complained as Kuni began shoving her toward the door. Leafeon barked angrily at Kuni's heels, but followed her mistress as he began to realize that there was no resisting the fact that he was going back out into the cold.

Her cousin scoffed. "Babe, you don't know what yelling is until you let her tea boil over. Now go help her out before she sends Morty or Eusine over to yell at me." Before Reika could as much as protest, Kuni shut the door behind her and sighed. "Morty's not to be messed with before he's spaced out for at least three hours in the morning. As you probably learned when you tried to battle him at six in the morning."

With Reika's interruption behind them, the two, along with Typhlosion, went behind the stage to the minimalist living quarters Kuni had. Unlike the other kimono girls, Kuni was very humble in the decoration of her room. It was essentially a tatami flat with a twin bed instead of a bedroll—unlike the wide, garishly-decorated bedrolls or queen beds the others slept in—some cushions piled in one corner and a cherry wardrobe packed with a mixture of her kimonos and her eclectic taste in modern clothing. Lyra spotted Kuni's Vaporeon coiled lithely in the midst of the colorful pile of cushions, opening a single baleful eye to watch the trio.

Settling on the floor with her back against Typhlosion's warm side, Lyra closed her eyes. "Oh, Kuni, I've been so cold all day," she mumbled, rubbing her hands vigorously.

The other girl scoffed. "You have all of those Fire types, but yet you're always cold. Speaking of cold, show me that Glaceon already."

Without opening her eyes, Lyra grabbed a Pokeball from the belt holding up her jeans and pressed the button on it. "Glace!" Her Glaceon exclaimed, startled by the sudden change in atmosphere from her Pokeball.

"Wow, she's gorgeous," Kuni praised. Lyra opened her eyes to see Glaceon flipping her tail and head ornaments around, showing off for the unfamiliar individual. _She's always been such an attention seeker, _Lyra thought with a smile, and decided to release her Mienfoo and Mudkip as well.

Kuni yelped at the sudden appearance of the other two Pokémon, causing Typhlosion and Glaceon to chortle. "Who are they?" she asked, pointing at Mienfoo and Mudkip.

"Pokémon I received quite recently, actually. Mienfoo's the yellow and red one, and Mudkip is the shy one," Lyra responded, scooping a frightened Mudkip into her arms. Mienfoo rolled her eyes at Mudkip and swatted at Glaceon's tail, causing the vain Eeveelution to growl and smack at the Fighting-type.

As veterans in life and fighting, Vaporeon and Typhlosion merely exchanged glances and resorted to speaking to each other in low growls, barks, and mews, clearly gossiping about the crazy youngsters these days and their tendencies to choose violence so quickly as a resolution. Lyra huddled against her Typhlosion and promptly returned Mienfoo and Mudkip to their respective Pokeballs. She coaxed Glaceon over and stroked her face. As vain as she was, she was also quite affectionate. "Glaceon's very sweet with people, but she isn't really a team player," Lyra said.

Kuni blinked. "She seems…graceful. Like she could dance with a kimono girl." Suddenly, Kuni's eyes lit up. "Lyra! I know what we're doing today! Tonight's basically the city-wide block party, and the dance theatre is supposed to have some sort of refreshment or entertainment. Vaporeon and I were just going to walk around and speak with people and serve tea, but you're here and I've taught you some of our dances. You and I could do a two-woman, two-Eeveelution show!"

If Lyra had been drinking something when Kuni said that, she would've choked. "Is this your real reason for inviting me here?" she accused.

Kuni gave a falsely-innocent smile that made Lyra feel as though she'd fallen into a meticulously-planned trap. "Nope. Come with me! We shall find a kimono to fit those new-found curves of yours!" Before Lyra or either of her Pokémon could object or question why her curves were new-found, Kuni lifted the former Champion straight onto her feet and marched her over to the wardrobe.

Silver was sitting outside of Mount Mortar with his back resting against Feraligatr's side, allowing himself to partially get buried by the powdery snow. He'd come from Mahogany Town with strength in his stride, but he'd lost his nerve as he grew closer to Ecruteak City. Now he was no more than three hundred feet from the entrance to the town and he sat at the base of Mount Mortar, terrified out of his mind of what Lyra would say.

He remembered her in the battle, remembered the way she looked at him in far more detail than before.

_Eyes dark and ancient-looking with an emotion Silver can't judge, Lyra gazes at him, the folds of a garnet-colored blanket or cape enshrouding her figure. Without speaking, she beckons her unfamiliar red and yellow Pokémon forward. He recognizes the cue for a battle warily and releases his Weavile, but he hates the aura of regret about her. Lyra calls for an equally unfamiliar attack in a low, whispery voice that cries of disuse, and Silver barely catches her words. He's used to the mellow alto voice that had developed from the high, irritating chatter she had when she was ten years old, but not something this low and this…broken. The red and yellow Pokémon batters Weavile with a small but powerful fist, much as Silver has been slugged by Lyra's strange, deadened expression._

"Hey," called a nearby Hiker, breaking Silver from his reverie. "Kid. Don't get buried, okay?"

Silver mumbled something incoherent and rude, earning a thwack from Feraligatr's tail. _Be nice to the man! He's concerned! _The Pokémon growled in his language. More kindly, Silver responded, "I won't."

"You look terrible," the man said, studying the redheaded trainer. "What are you up to, kiddo?"  
Feraligatr gave Silver a meaningful look, as if to say, _Well? _Silver huffed at the Pokémon and stood up, brushing snow off of his legs and jacket. He looked at the Hiker and said, "I'm going into Ecruteak City. There's someone important I need to talk to." Deciding to avoid the Hiker, Silver knew he had to enter the town and speak to Lyra soon, or else he'd have an extra uncomfortable conversation for the day.

The Hiker nodded sagely. "Be on your way, son. Best of luck." Hefting his backpack onto his shoulders, he wandered away from Mt. Mortar and down the snowy path.

Silver glanced to Feraligatr. "I'm not ready for this," he told the Starter.

Feraligatr clapped his clawed paw onto his shoulder and shoved him forward. Silver stumbled, almost pitching face-first into the snow, but he continued walking. Of course, his Pokémon wanted things to be better for his trainer. A few years ago, Feraligatr might not have liked his Trainer much, but Silver had really grown up and started looking after him. The Starter could actually get affection out of his Trainer these days, something he thought he'd never live to see. However, when it came to Lyra, he'd taken two steps forward and then twelve back all in one night. Feraligatr sensed that and tried to help. Wasn't that natural? If Silver loved Lyra, he would do whatever he could to make things right with her and stop being a giant sissy after all of this time.

Silver entered the silent, ancient-looking city and gave a shaky sigh before trotting toward the theatre, overgrown hair flipping like a blood-toned banner in the gray and white of winter.

It was entirely possible that Kuni was enjoying herself a bit too much during the task of finding a kimono for Lyra, but Lyra silently put up with it.

Kuni had basically made the other girl strip of her jeans and red hooded sweatshirt and tossed a white shift at her to wear while she dug through her wardrobe, humming under her breath. She'd first tossed a lavender kimono embroidered with ivory and violet clouds at Lyra, but before she could even try it, Kuni swiped it away and hung it back up. Then she gave her a magenta one patterned with pink and red feathers around the hems, but as soon as Lyra slid her arm into a sleeve, Kuni shook her head vigorously and snatched it away. "No good, no good," she muttered, staring at the fabric.

"What are you even looking for?" Lyra asked with a light-hearted laugh, snuggling into Typhlosion to warm herself in the thin shift. The dance theatre, a building that was hundreds of years old, was not known for being well-insulated, after all.

Kuni sighed, eyeing a modern-looking black one with electric blue constellations patterning it. "I want to find something that looks good with your Glaceon. I wear a kimono that complements Vaporeon when I'm dancing." She hung the black kimono up and dug further into the closet.

Lyra sat and watched Kuni. "Well…Glaceon is blue, like Vaporeon, but softer, remember?"  
"True," Kuni said, her voice muffled by silks, "these are all color-coded, so I have yet to find the blues and some neutrals." After a moment, she withdrew with four kimonos in blue, two in black and one in a silvery-gray. She tossed one at Lyra. Catching it with ease, Lyra lifted it and gazed at it. It was a simple indigo kimono trimmed with silver and emerald thread.

Kuni immediately took it back. "Never mind that one. My late grandmother made this for my mom. Forget that."

Lyra managed to try on the next two—a teal one that darkened to black and a silvery periwinkle patterned in vivid flowers—but was shot down by Kuni, who decided that neither shade looked good on Lyra. "One more blue," she said, and this one was powder blue and decorated with white clouds. Lyra started trying this one, and Kuni's eyes lit up. "I like this, wait here." She dropped the neutral kimonos and grabbed a sky blue obi from her closet. She fixed it around Lyra's midriff and stepped back

Lyra examined the pale fabric. "Well?" She asked, spinning. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd always gravitated toward warmer, deeper colors, like reds and browns. They warmed her pale skin and gave a certain flame to her already chestnut hair. Needless to say, she wasn't certain how she looked in such a washed-out color.

Kuni squealed suddenly, her face alight. "I love it!" She stashed the extra kimonos away, save for the indigo kimono trimmed in silver and emerald. Stripping down, she slipped a black shift on and then slid the kimono on. "I think that—"

Her statement was cut off by the loud bell serving as a doorbell jangling. Giving an annoyed sigh, Kuni wrapped the garment tightly around her petite body and paced forward. "Let me go get that," she said. "You stay here."

Lyra shifted around in her kimono and glanced at Typhlosion. Straightening the sleeves, she asked, "Do I look pretty?"  
Typhlosion gave an astute nod and nuzzled her Trainer. With a smile, Lyra wrapped her arms around her Pokémon's neck. "I'm glad you're my Pokémon," she murmured, "and that I'll always have you, no matter what."

_Arceus. What have I done?  
_Silver whipped his hand away from the bell outside the door that he had just struck. _What the hell have I done? _He thought, the bell clanging calmly and clearly, contrasting the solid, fearful clunking in his chest.

"Coming!" called a female voice. He decided it was either Kuni, the annoying chatty one with the Vaporeon, or Sayo, Kuni's impetuous older sister with a Jolteon. They were the only two who were related of the current set of full-fledged Kimono girls as far as Silver knew, and they were the only two with high, brassy voices—kind of like a badly-played coronet. _Thank God Lyra doesn't sound like either of those girls. _

The door opened to reveal Kuni in an unbound kimono with dark hair hanging loose around her face. She was pretty in a sharp-featured, bright-eyed way without her traditional makeup, but knowing her, she was too annoying to be attractive to him. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. "Silver," she whispered. Before he understood what was going on, she slid out the door and slammed it shut behind her. "Silver. I can't battle today. Lyra's here," she whispered.

"I don't need to battle you. If Lyra's here, I'd like to talk to her. That's the purpose of my social visit."

Kuni raised her eyebrows and muttered, "Well, someone finally grew a pair." Offended by the girl's statement, he tried to walk past her. Her non-traditional persona was enough to make him want to punch a wall and possibly break his hand doing it. Kuni blocked him and shook her head. She was almost as small as Lyra, the top of her head barely equal with the top of his shoulder, but she was fine-boned and narrow where Lyra had gotten some curves. Yet the little woman was blocking his way, shaking her head fiercely. "No. Not right now."

"I was stupid enough to wait three years, now let me in," Silver growled threateningly.

Palm-striking his chest, Kuni drove Silver backwards. Feraligatr snarled and paced forward, but Silver threw his arm up and blocked his Pokémon from attacking Kuni. His chest throbbed as Kuni explained, "You can come back in an hour. This place opens to the public then. My sisters are gone, but Lyra is going to perform with me tonight. You can talk to her after that," she stated calmly, her eyes narrowed. "I consider you a friend, Silver, but Lyra is more of a friend to me than you have ever been. I would rather not have her talk to you before this performance."

He sighed and crossed his arms. Gazing at the quiet city around him, he said, "I'll come back, then. But listen," he said, a faint note of desperation cutting through his otherwise smooth, deepening voice, "I am tired of knowing that I hurt her and hurt her badly at that. I want to fix things, and if I can't, then so be it, but at least I'll know that I tried to say sorry," he said, staring at his feet in shame for what he did. _It's been a while since I've said I'm sorry, _Silver thought begrudgingly.

"She blames herself, but I blame you both for that stupid shit," Kuni said in an oddly warm way, surprising Silver with her starkly different language than what he normally knew her to speak in. Even when he was a complete dirt bag to Kuni and her sisters back in the day, she'd kept her reserved kimono girl demeanor.

Feraligatr nudged Silver with his tail, his expression lighter. _You may have a chance, _his face said. Turning back to Kuni, Silver responded, "I'll be back, then." For good measure, he added, "Uh, thank you."

Her eyes glinted with surprise at his gratitude, but in a mild voice, she said, "Of course. Remember, she won't know you came here unless you tell her yourself tonight." Kuni slipped back into the theatre and left Silver and Feraligatr standing in the cold.

"Pokémon Center," was all Silver said gruffly before turning away from the Dance Theatre and heading toward the red-roofed building. Feraligatr followed happily through the snow.

Vaporeon and Glaceon hit it off—Lyra was fairly certain that Kuni's normally reserved Eeveelution had fallen in love with the young, spry Glaceon—and for that the Trainers were grateful, as Vaporeon was teaching Glaceon the moves for the performance. A quick learner on even a bad day, Glaceon seemed like she was born to the choreography of the Dance Theatre, making lithe, tight circles around Vaporeon, who was obviously pretending to be the human for the lesson. He watched her with an expression that was nowhere near as chilly as it normally was.

"I think he likes her," Kuni muttered, stabbing an extra bobby pin into Lyra's expertly-coiled bun, "but she isn't interested in someone twice her age, I think. The little flirt."

Shrugging, Lyra flipped her bangs aside. "Pokémon don't care about that so much. Besides, isn't your Vaporeon only a few years old?"

Kuni decided not to answer and instead tucked two indigo silk flowers into opposite sides of Lyra's bun. In her ear, she whispered, "Ready to do this?"  
Giving a silent nod, Lyra beckoned Glaceon over and stroked the soft side of her face, gazing into her dark eyes. She could remember the roundness of her face as an Eevee and her newfound delight in becoming a Glaceon which had never quite left her eyes. "You're going to be beautiful tonight," she murmured, rubbing her polygonal ears affectionately. With that, she stood and peered around the doorway. From here she could see the stage and the far left corner of the theatre, which was jammed with people murmuring quietly about the upcoming performance. People were probably wondering how only two girls—one of whom wasn't a formally-introduced kimono girl, even—could give a show.

Kuni handed her a fan, which Lyra instinctively snapped open and waved delicately. It was marbled blue, black and white. "Remember the moves?" the kimono girl murmured.

Lyra glanced down at Glaceon, who gave her an excited nod. She looked to Kuni and gave a smile, her face filled with anticipation, and replied, "My mother was one of you once, and her mother before her. It's in my blood, even if I'm not officially one of you."

Swiping her identical fan open, Kuni gave a coy smile. "You're going to be one hot commodity after this show tonight, babe." Then, she let her face fall into its made-up mask, eyes saying nothing and everything all at once. "We're going to take them all by surprise."

"Mhm." Lyra pursed her lips momentarily, feeling makeup shift on her cheeks. She then gave a businesslike nod. "Let's do this."

* * *

_A/N: Hi again. I have these first two chapters pretty well picked-over, so I decided to publish both of them in the wee hours of dawn. Feel free to poke at any grammatical errors I managed to miss, in spite of editing and rewriting these on and off for the past five months and finally just deciding to publish them now.  
_

_Yes, we will encounter our genres soon. I promise you! Next chapter, I swear! *please don't hurt me*  
_

_I'm also aware that Silver is OOC in some ways, but hey. The dude scared off the one person he thought was his best friend (and the girl he was in love with), so I doubt that anyone would be too fond of his- or herself if they did that. Lyra is OOC in some ways, too, but I feel like a lot of her actions are fairly in character. Also, I don't believe that the kimono girls are always so formal and stodgy-sounding...don't ask me why I picked Kuni to be Lyra's friend. I don't remember why I wanted Kuni over Zuki or any other the others to be Lyra's chatty, snappy friend. If I remember, I'll post something about it in later author's notes.  
_

_Leave a review if you'd like! :) _


	3. Spirited Away

Silver sat in the middle of the audience in the Dance Theatre alone, sometimes jostled from the left by a young couple who clearly needed to get a room but were attempting to hide it, and other times a little girl with a Pidgey to his right would stab holes in his patience by asking stupid questions to a rather forgiving father.

Gazing at the stage, he waited for Lyra and Kuni to appear. Lyra would be caked in makeup and bundled into a kimono; however, he still wanted to see her. Silver doubted that he would ever stop wanting to see her.

So, when the traditional instruments began playing and the crowd fell into a hush, Silver leaned forward with the expression of a starved man near a buffet and waited for her to appear.

Kuni stepped lightly out on stage, fan open in front of her face, and paused, assuming an innocent expression. With all the grace she had trained for years to even portray, she moved slowly forward until she was just left of the center of the stage. She paused there, scanning the audience and noted the glint of trademark dark red hair. _Silver. _Knowing she wouldn't have spotted him if she hadn't known he was there, she waited for her Vaporeon to join her as he slunk across stage and then sat, still as Lugia's pool in the Whirl Islands. They turned together to wait for Lyra to cross stage.

She stepped out with the tiny note of hesitance she always had. In her kimono and makeup, Lyra resembled a china doll with a wreath of indigo flowers surrounding her bun. Her face seemed ghostly in the wan light. With her delicate, precise movements, she stopped just right of center stage and waited for her Glaceon.

The crowd murmured with surprise at the appearance of the rare Eeveelution, who moved as though she was born for the spotlight. She stopped next to Lyra, head bowed as she sat down, mirroring Vaporeon perfectly.

The girls and the Pokémon lifted their heads, eyes wide, and began their dance.

_I never knew she was so graceful, _Silver thought with just a hint of despair as Lyra flowed like a newly-thawed stream across stage, her Glaceon making easy circles and other figures around her. _I underestimated that prissy-looking little Eeveelution in battle, too. I can't believe how graceful they are together. Arceus, I'm an idiot._

Her energy seemed to increase with the music, which grew steadily faster from its slow, moody start, and now she smiled, her face no longer hidden by the fan. Her face seemed free of the grief in that moment, and she danced and danced, her flowing movements now more like the rush of a river until the music suddenly stopped.

Lyra and Kuni faced each other once more, and then that changed. They flipped their backs to one another, Vaporeon in front, Glaceon in back, and they spun in a circle in tandem, Vaporeon and Glaceon darting through the gaps like brilliant blue threads. A strand of Lyra's bun came loose, bouncing free around her face, but she didn't seem to mind. Concentration had forced itself into her expression, as she was likely making sure she didn't accidentally step on Vaporeon's tail or kick her beloved Glaceon.

Silver just stared as they moved, and he could barely breathe for the fact that he saw her and suddenly felt like he didn't know her at all.

As they neared the end of their spin and the end of the dance, Lyra realized that something wasn't quite right with her Glaceon. Though the Eeveelution did the moves perfectly, she suddenly seemed distracted, and an odd glint had come into her eye. The tempo increased ever faster, and Glaceon's expression became frenzied and longing. _What's wrong? _Lyra thought at her Glaceon in concern. _Is she feeling okay?_

The music stopped, and so did the girls. They bowed and earned surprisingly strong applause. Without the other kimono girls, the audience hadn't expected a worthwhile performance, but the two girls and two Pokémon had delivered.

"Glace!" Glaceon suddenly darted off-stage. Lyra gave Kuni a startled look and followed after her Pokémon, breaking character.

Kuni called, "Wait, Lyra, someone's—" It was lost to Lyra, who was now running after the Eeveelution, through the back hallways after Glaceon. She heard the confusion of the audience fade behind her, but what did it matter? Something was wrong with her Pokémon!

"Glaceon!" Lyra called. "GLACEON!" The Pokémon was deaf to her cries, dead-set on something that Lyra knew nothing about.

She soon heard Kuni and Vaporeon call out to her and Glaceon, but it was to no avail. Glaceon slammed her shoulder against the back door of the theatre and—it must have been an old, partially-rotted door, for it broke easily against Glaceon's efforts—ran out into the snow.

Lyra didn't think to grab one of her other Pokémon and rushed into the cold straight after her four-legged friend.

Silver was on his feet the moment Lyra's cutesy Eeveelution dashed off the stage. Something was clearly wrong, and he'd be damned if he wasn't there to help Lyra. Maybe it would put him in better standing, but he was mostly concerned for both her and the Pokémon, though he'd never admit it to either.

Kuni noticed him standing up and called from the stage, "Silver! Go around the front and run out back! You can catch up to Lyra and Glaceon that way!" Silver nodded, releasing his Weavile for assistance, and dodged people as he darted from the theatre.

The winter night was frigid. Silver hoped that Glaceon wouldn't run out in this; he knew that Lyra would follow her. "Weavile, I need you to run on ahead and stop Glaceon in case she gets outside." The Dark-type gave an astute nod and sprinted off, a blur in the darkness. Silver ran after, feeling ungainly in comparison.

Within thirty seconds he was around the back of the theatre and discovered his Weavile spread-Pidgeot on the ground, dazed. Shadowy aura sparked around him as though he'd been slammed by a powerful Shadow Ball…which Lyra's Glaceon knew. _Oh hell. _"Weavile!" he stumbled forward, scooping the Pokémon into his arms before returning him to his Pokeball. He glanced up and saw a small figure in a kimono rushing off into the night after something tiny and quadripedal. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought that the Glaceon was heading toward the Bell Tower, where the legendary Pokémon Ho-oh roosted.

_What the heck is up with that Pokémon? _Silver thought, releasing his Crobat. Before Crobat could even comprehend what was going on, Silver said, "We're going to fly after Lyra and her Pokémon. Something's not quite right." He leapt onto the Pokémon's back, and Crobat took off with a few voiced complaints. The nocturnal Pokémon was not at all fond of the cold of winter, after all.

They followed Lyra and Glaceon into the dark, alienating chill of a winter's night.

Lyra rushed through the entryway to the Bell Tower, calling apologies to the monks who demanded identification and wanted to know why a Glaceon had run through their station. She was tiring out; she could scale Mount Silver and swim across the Lake of Rage, but running was not her strong suit. Her concern for her Pokémon kept her speed up even as her legs burned with a mixture of cold and exertion. Somewhere along the way, she'd lost her shoes in the snow; consequentially, her feet were numb and wet.

She burst through the exit and onto the path leading to the Bell Tower. Even though it was winter and snow coated every other part of Ecruteak City, the path was devoid of snow and the trees were still laden with golden and orange leaves. The air here was also warmer, like springtime. Whether this was a strange natural phenomenon or because of Ho-oh's association with sun and flame, she appreciated it. She spotted Glaceon stopping just outside of the pale walls of the Bell Tower, staring up at it and waiting for something. "Glaceon!" she called, stumbling forward. "Glaceon, come—"

The air around her chilled momentarily and she was thrown against the trunk of the nearest tree…which was at least fifteen feet away. Winded and shocked, Lyra looked up to see a strange young man of about twenty years standing near her, grinning like a Haunter. His eyes glowed red, as though he was possessed by a demon. "_Your Glaceon won't listen to you," _said a terrible voice that was not out loud, but not in her head, either. It was a voice that just _was, _and it _was _in a terrible way that struck fear in her soul.

Lyra narrowed her eyes. The voice didn't seem to come from the man, as his mouth and face hadn't moved, and so she quickly stood, in spite of the swoops of pain in her chest and back. "Yeah, I'd noticed. How about I go get her and go home now?" she said, her voice unwavering though her heart seemed to skip every other beat.

The man rushed at her with inhuman speed and slammed her back into the tree by her throat. She squeaked, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as her air supply was cut off temporarily. "_You will not have her back. She is ours now. Stop fighting, or I will order this man to do something...horrible to you, if you catch my drift, love."_

Lyra wasn't about to be bullied by some detached voice. She elbowed the man in his diaphragm and ripped his hand from her throat with her own. "No," she said harshly and ran towards her Glaceon. The Eeveelution turned to her, her face momentarily desperate, calling for Lyra's help, before becoming frenzied again, and her eyes filled with luminous red, like the man's eyes had. "GLACEON!" she yelled, reaching for her. The Pokémon backed away, growling like she didn't know her Trainer from a malicious stranger.

"Glaceon," Lyra murmured, struck by the sudden change in her Eeveelution. She didn't struggle as the man's clammy hands closed on her arms, dragging her back…at least, not until she saw a strange, legless Pokémon, gray with a single red eye in its head and a rotund belly grab her Glaceon and dematerialize, taking the Eeveelution with it. Lyra bellowed with anger and tried to pull free, tearing the sleeves of her kimono off entirely, but the man threw her to the ground, pressing his foot against her stomach to keep her from getting up.

_"I told you she was ours now, you silly girl," _said the voice, _"and we shall make sure you can't follow your Pokémon for a good long while." _Then, the voice vanished, leaving her alone with a deranged man with crimson eyes. He crouched down, examining her like she was possibly edible, and then straddled her.

_Damn. No. No. NO! _"Get off of me!" she roared, clawing at his arms, and rolling side to side with all that she could muster, but she couldn't move much. He grabbed her arms and pinned them over her head and leaned forward. After studying her scared and angry face for a few seconds, he huffed a breath into her mouth. Suddenly Lyra shivered and felt foreign, crippling fear wash over her. It made her sick. She could barely move in its iron claws, and she closed her eyes as if to defend herself from the place the fear had come from.

Distantly, she felt the kimono rip around her thighs, but what did that matter? She was being tortured within her skull, feeling something dark play with her fears and wants. A memory of Ethan cropped up, where he stole her former trademark hat and raced around with it in the National Park, laughing, but suddenly blood poured from his mouth and he pitched forward, dead. The memory dissolved as hands felt her body roughly from somewhere—Ethan was dead. It didn't matter. He'd died when he was twelve years old, from some strange curse that was all her fault.

"Let her go, or I'll kick your ass!" screamed a voice somewhere.

_Let me go, ghosts, _she thought fuzzily, _let me go. I'm not responsible for Ethan's death. I just saw him, I swear. He's not dead._

She felt the weight on her, the hands and the unwanted-ness of it all suddenly disappear, and there was a voice asking her to wake up, to look up. Lyra suddenly saw Silver, giving her a rare smile on his thirteenth birthday, when snow fell into Goldenrod City and the windows of the stores glowed with Christmas lights. Before the memory turned sour, a worried male voice demanded, "Lyra, open your eyes or I will open them for you!"

Somehow, through her internal hell where Ethan was dead and Silver soon would die, too, she remembered her eyelids and saw the same face she'd remembered, except this face was older and leaner, and its eyes were keen with fear. That was Silver leaning over her, demanding for her to wake up. "Lyra," said Silver in a relieved voice, and Lyra felt struck with the weight of reality even as the fear lingered inside of her, casting malevolent shadows around her. His face was the only thing not shifting and distorting, the only familiar thing in this world that was slowly being eaten by shadows and fear. In that moment, she forgot what she had done to him years ago.

Lyra reached up with leaden arms and wrapped them around Silver's neck, letting loose a sob. He almost fell onto her, but he instead planted his hands into the ground at the last moment, keeping both of them stable. "Don't leave me alone in this," she whispered, resting her head against his chest. The internal thing, that cursed fear, started swarming her again and she couldn't feel the warmth of his body once more. Old images came back as well. "Don't…" she collapsed, and nothing but a dark world of shadows and death existed.

Silver couldn't get two images out of his head. One was of the strange man—that bastard with glowing red eyes that he'd punched and scared away with his Crobat's Air Slash—with his hands all over Lyra with disgusting intent. The other was of Lyra sprawled on the ground, staring up at him with eyes that weren't seeing. _I can't think about this now. I have an injured Lyra clinging to me, unresponsive, and she needs help. _He lifted her, barely anything more than a scrap of tattered silks and too-hot skin, off the ground. "Crobat," he said, giving the normally impetuous Pokémon a stern look as he hovered nearby, "don't screw around on me here. We need to get Lyra some help."

Crobat seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and allowed Silver to get on his back. He leaned Lyra against him, wrapped one arm around her and clung to Crobat with his legs and his free arm. "You're going to be carrying a little extra weight, but we're going to take her back to the Dance Theatre. This might be surprising to you, but Kuni is good with medicine," he said, comforting himself more than he was talking to Crobat.

"Bat cro, cro?" Crobat questioned as it took off, which Silver took to mean _Silver, are you done talking yet?_

"Don't talk back to me at a time like this."

"Cro." Crobat flew silently for the space of three minutes over the faintly glowing city below. People were milling about in the center of the normally quiet, snowy town, laughing and eating and drinking. The Dance Theatre had cleared out mostly since Lyra's Glaceon had run off and gotten itself captured by that Pokémon. If Silver wasn't mistaken, it was a Dusknoir, a species native to the Sinnoh region. Of course, Silver didn't make it in time to save Glaceon, and now Lyra was something of a tossup.

"You're so useless," he growled at himself.

Crobat hovered a foot off the ground, and Silver carefully slid off, taking Lyra with him. "Kuni!" he yelled, barging through the door. It was mostly empty aside from a few older couples who gasped at the sight of the wild-eyed boy with an ailing girl draped in tattered silk in his arms. "Please tell me you're here," he added more quietly.

Kuni appeared from backstage, hanging up a Pokegear with one hand and pulling on a bathrobe over her shift with the other. She nearly dropped both when she saw Silver with Lyra. "Oh no. Where's her Glaceon?"

"Gone. Long story," he admonished, barging past a couple to clamber up on stage with Lyra. Crobat blundered through the narrow space tactlessly behind him, muttering apologies to the affronted and startled elderly couples. "She's not well."

"No duh," Kuni muttered as she took him by the shirt sleeve and led him backstage. "She looks Cursed."

_What? _"She was attacked by some Zubat-shit crazy man with glowing red eyes," he explained warily.

Kuni opened a door and quickly herded Silver into the posh-looking bedroom behind the door before responding, "She's definitely Cursed, then. The man was ghost-possessed by some Pokémon like Haunter or Misdreavus." She pointed to the bed in the corner; Silver set Lyra on it. In the dim lighting, she looked cold and sick, though her skin was feverish and she occasionally murmured things under her breath in a hopeless voice.

Heaving a sigh, Kuni walked over to the dresser. "I'll take it her Pokémon was stolen by a Dusknoir?"  
"Yeah…how did you know?" Silver asked suspiciously as she rummaged through the drawers.

"There have been reports from all over the region of Dusknoir spiriting away Pokémon. Of course, it's on the down-low right now. Plus…Morty, our gym leader here, disappeared when he went to investigate this. We're saying he's on vacation to visit family in the Orre Region. But you know as well as me that he doesn't really have family, and the weirdos in the Orre tend to stay in the Orre. I mean, have you ever met someone from the Orre? If it weren't for those news reports about first the golden-eyed former thug guy and then the kid with roughly your hair color and bad fashion sense taking out some evil team, I wouldn't have even known that the region exists" Kuni explained, fishing a packet of incense and a burner from the drawer.

Silver glanced at Lyra, concerned by her bedraggled, ghostly appearance. "I didn't know that he didn't have family, actually. You see, he doesn't talk to me. Because he doesn't like me."

"He knows you like Lyra. He probably likes her, too, just like a lot of other powerful young and male trainers do. I mean, she's such a cute little sweetheart," Kuni said simply, much to Silver's annoyance and bemusement. She swept over to the bed and set the incense burner next to the bed. Careful in her movements, Kuni swept the hair off Lyra's forehead. "Damn. She's really burning up."

"What will incense do for that?" Silver asked tetchily, not sure of what to do with himself.

Kuni paused and gave a massive cough. It racked her entire body and almost bent her over double. Wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her bathrobe—something Silver never thought he'd see her do—she explained, "This is what goes into Pure Incense. It's supposed to drive wild Pokémon away, but in the case of a human getting cursed, it purifies the person's system. But it takes some time," she explained matter-of-factly. She drew a match from seemingly nowhere, and then struck it. The tiny flame sputtered to life. Throwing the incense in the burner, she set the match to it. Within seconds the room began to smell of something summery and warm…something like the perfume-scented safety of a long-dead mother's arms and the light taste of melting butter on sweet corn, two things Silver wouldn't admit to loving. "They couldn't do this for her at a hospital, you know. They don't believe that Pokémon can curse human beings," she said darkly.

Silver paced forward hesitantly. He heard the door creep open and heard Vaporeon make a concerned noise. His Crobat, who'd been unnaturally silent during this conversation, latched his top set of wings over Silver's shoulders, murmuring sympathetically in his language. _Thanks, _Silver thought, unable to speak. Crouched at the edge of the bed, Silver refused to face the sick girl. "Lyra," he murmured as felt the fabric shift as her fingers gripped at the sheets with ferocity, "please pull through this."

Kuni seemed to study him a moment as he stared at the floor between his feet. She rested a hand on his shoulder and used the other to stroke Crobat's head affectionately. "She'll be okay. This is foolproof."

"I couldn't save her or her Glaceon. I'm such an idiot," he groaned. "No wonder she hates me."

Kuni huffed a sigh and stepped away. "When she's better, you two are having a long talk before she goes chasing after that Glaceon of hers, because THIS. IS. DUMB." She accented each of her words by tearing flowers violently from her hair. "You stay here with her. I'm going to call the other kimono girls and tell them that things are getting a bit more intense. The former Champion is now involved in this ugly mess, and there's no way she's going to pull herself out of it when her Glaceon is involved. That much hasn't changed with her." She left the room, leaving Silver and his Crobat sitting next to someone who he felt so attached to, in spite of not really knowing who she was anymore.

He turned to look at her, her face twisted with emotional pain. _She's probably cold under all of that fever. _Next to the Pure Incense was Lyra's belt of Pokeballs, and he discovered the only commonplace Pokeball she had on it now—her Typhlosion's Pokeball. He poked the button and released Typhlosion. The hulking Pokémon blinked twice, confused by the presence of Silver and his Crobat, but then saw Lyra. She gave a tortured cry and bumped her human's arm with her head.

"Be careful! She's cursed!" Silver ordered, regretting the harsh note in his voice.

Typhlosion eyed him with something not unlike annoyance and settled on the bed next to Lyra, making the bedsprings creak with her added weight. _Next time, I'll crisp you for telling me how to react to my Trainer being injured, _her eyes said.

"Vap. Por, vap por vap eon," Vaporeon commented coolly from the corner, dark eyes fixated upon Silver, and he pushed his way out of the room.

Silver grumbled and got off the bed, delegating himself to a corner with Crobat still wrapped around him like a strange shrug. He muttered, "Yeah, I know, I can't do anything right, thanks for noticing, you Remoraid with legs." In the chill of the room, he kept an eye on Lyra, who was clearly in a world that existed only in the throes of the curse in her mind, and listened to the wind pick up outside the thin walls of the Dance Theatre.


	4. Warmth

Outside of Lyra's mind, and away from the blackened images inside of her head, it was nearly two in the morning. To her, it seemed as though she'd been trapped in a strange, torturous limbo for an entire lifetime.

Sometimes, she thought she'd hear a voice telling her to hang in there, or feel the distant warmth of a Fire-type Pokémon, but it was a dream to her. Lyra was no longer sure if what was happening in her mind was real or if it was because of…because of what? She couldn't remember, in among the loss and death of family and friends in her head, but something had happened for her to be here, right?

Something must have.

So someone must have also been trying to get her out of there, because she didn't know if this un-reality would cease to exist without someone else's help.

Typhlosion was worried about her human. She'd been slammed with the move Curse—the starter could sense as much—but Pokémon never attacked humans with such a devastating move. Humans were fragile and didn't have Hit Points or Revives to take them out of a fainted state. Plus, their minds were never subject to such internal tortures. Typhlosion knew that people sometimes became depressed or angry, but they could escape that.

Without that Pure Incense, she knew that her beloved Trainer would never return from the nightmares and pain unless someone damaged her body horribly, and who would want to hurt Lyra? She was perfect, and Typhlosion felt distress flood her system at the thought of her perfect human marred by horror and pain.

"Hey. Blowtorch. Quit stressing yourself over this," said none other than Crobat in their language, who was hanging off Silver's back. The redhead, settled in the nearby cushions along with the annoying Kimono Girl and her deadpan Vaporeon, also had his garnet-colored eyes on Lyra, and Typhlosion wasn't particularly thrilled with this. However, she would put up with it, as the redhead seemed repentant and actually worried. He never used to act that way. Maybe the forced intermission in their friendship had guided him to behave properly.

Crobat sighed. "Blowtorch. I'm speaking to you." Meanwhile, the humans conversed in quiet, intense voices about possible theories as to why Lyra's Pokémon had been spirited away and where the Dusknoir were coming from, but they were coming up with nothing that made much sense.

Regardless, Typhlosion thought about muttering something particularly offensive in response to the petulant creature. She'd always gotten along better with Feraligatr and Sneasel—though the sly fiend was a Weavile now, much to her dismay. At the last second, she decided that she was above such things. "What do you want, you flappy piece of Rapidash dung?"

Chuckling, Crobat retorted, "Oh, I missed you, too, Blowtorch." With a more serious face, he commented, "Your Trainer is going to get crushed under your weight, you know. That bed's not meant to support your weight along with hers."

"Are you suggesting that she's fat?" asked Vaporeon in his icy voice, his look coolly interested in the possible argument that might ensue.

Typhlosion gave him a pointed glare, and then she returned her attention to Crobat. "As hot as her skin feels, she's also shivering. If I were to get off the bed, we'd have to find someone of a good size who runs a decent temperature and doesn't have any large horns to impale my trainer."

Vaporeon flipped his tail. "I couldn't help you with that. My average body temperature fluctuates with the temperature of the water in the air. As you know, it is currently winter. I am akin to an ice cube."

Apologetically shrugging and accidentally clipping Silver under the chin with one of his four wings (earning a long string of curses from the redhead), Crobat replied, "I can't help you, either. I don't run a good temperature, for starters, and I could accidentally poison her as well if I were to doze off and not control my fangs."

"What about the humans?" Vaporeon suggest abruptly. "If I remember your trainers' other Pokémon, we're not in any better of a situation here. Everyone's too small or too large or too cold or too…fanged," he added, clearly disdainful of Crobat's biology.

Typhlosion glanced first at Kuni, but then realized she was still ill. She had a nasty cough yet, and the Fire-type could smell the contagion in her breath yet. How could she let a sick human near her already-ill Trainer? That left Silver, who she wasn't certain of. Chances were that it would frighten Lyra to wake up with a human male sharing her bed with her, but the room was cold, and the blankets and tattered silk did nothing for the girl's constant tremors. "Silver is the only logical choice in here, out of everyone," Vaporeon realized aloud before Typhlosion could voice her identical thought.

Crobat glanced down at his trainer, who was busy shooting down one of Kuni's theories. "Anyone in here speak human?" he asked jokingly. "I sure as hell don't want to tell him. If only they could understand as well as we understand them."

"Like you could even speak human in the first place," Vaporeon scoffed.

"And nor could you, but maybe I could," chided a new voice. Everyone in the room, even the humans, looked up to see Lyra's Xatu. The wistful-looking, all-seeing Pokémon had released herself from her Pokeball. She eyed Vaporeon with contempt, and he shied away from her intense, sad eyes. There was speculation throughout the Pokémon world that there was no such thing as a happy-looking Xatu. To Typhlosion and Crobat she said, "Would you like me to convey what you were both thinking to the squabbling humans?"

Typhlosion gave a nod. She slid off the bed and replied, "Please. I'm afraid I'll break both the bed and my human."

Xatu seemed momentarily amused, but her face shifted back into its impassive mask of sadness once more. Using her psychic abilities, she conveyed the thought to both humans. The response was immediate and quite humorous, at least to Typhlosion. Silver's face turned the color of both his hair and his eyes, and he shook his head vigorously, unable to even speak. Irrepressible as always, Kuni retorted, "I actually like this plan a lot. I really would like my bed and Lyra to be in one piece. Silver, go and get up there already."

"I doubt that she'd be happy to wake up in the same bed as me! She'll kill me when she's aware of things again!" he protested, troubled.

Kuni stood up and grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. "You don't have a choice in the matter. Get up there, get under the covers next to her and try not to freak out."

"But—"

"REMEMBER THAT PAIR YOU GREW? NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO USE IT," Kuni ordered in a frighteningly mannish voice. Typhlosion just about spewed embers trying not to chuckle; if he was that bashful about it, what was there to worry about? After a few seconds more of Silver attempting to get out of it, Crobat joined Kuni's valiant cause and deposited Silver on the other side of Lyra.

He shot a helpless look to Vaporeon and Typhlosion. The former ignored it and the latter gave a careless shrug before curling up at the foot of the bed, burning warm even in the intense chill of the night. After a few moments, Silver shucked off his jacket, tossed it on the floor, and hesitantly crawled under the covers. "Does she really need me here?" he growled.

"You're providing body heat. She obviously is cold, even if she has a high fever," Kuni said. Grabbing various Pokeballs, she returned his Crobat and her own Vaporeon to their respective resting spots. "I'll leave Typhlosion here with you, but since you're going to be too much of a nervous wreck to keep talking, I'll go clean up the theatre."

Typhlosion snickered, feeling somewhat more at peace. Kuni knew what she was doing and could order people around relatively well, even if Silver was no better than a nervous little schoolboy as he lay next Lyra. Kuni left the room and closed the door.

Silver let out a loud sigh, earning another snicker from Typhlosion. "I…oh Arceus…shit in a bucket," he grumbled, sighing loudly.

It was going to be a long night, but Typhlosion figured it would be that way even if Lyra was well and Silver was still anywhere but with her.

Kuni was sweeping the Theatre, letting the work take her over. Vaporeon was dutifully taking scraps of garbage and clods of dirt caught around the entry and disposing of them. Both were the type to enjoy work as a distraction. Concerned about Lyra and her missing Glaceon, she threw herself entirely into her work and hummed tunelessly. Tears still bit into her eyes. _Duty kept me from helping my friend, _she thought, bowing her head as she scrubbed ferociously at the wooden floors. _I sent Silver, and he got her out of there. But I should have been there as well, because that's what would've been right to do as a friend._

It was close to three in the morning, and she nearly had the theatre spotless when her Pokegear rang stridently. Kuni answered it. "What?" she asked tetchily, not necessarily caring about who was on the other end. Who would call at this time anyway?

"Kuni, it's me," said the cool, almost monotonous voice of none other than Morty.

Kuni stared at the wall opposite her. "Where are you, you ass?" she interrogated, her voice terse. "You just disappeared, without warning—"

He cut her off—something he never did. Morty was always a touch snarky, but not outright rude. "Stop. Listen. Something is wrong. I need you to go to the Burned Tower at sunrise," he ordered.

"Why?"

"Ho-oh has disappeared from the Bell Tower unexpectedly. I went to follow him and uncovered something ugly. I know Lyra never captured Raikou and Entei, so I need you to check and see if they're still in the Burned Tower, where they returned after she battled them. Otherwise, my theory is right," Morty said, his voice growing edgy.

Kuni frowned. Vaporeon studied her closely, obviously worried about his Trainer. "Morty…what's all of this? What's your theory?"

He sighed and responded, "I can't tell you. It'll put you in danger. Just do as I ask and call me sometime in the afternoon. If I don't pick up, try to leave a message." His line fell silent, and Kuni glowered at her Pokegear. Had the world suddenly gone insanely wonky all in the space of six hours? Lyra was Cursed in a back bedroom and in a bed with Silver, and now Morty seemed to be implying…

…Kuni's head snapped up, her pupils contracted with sudden realization…

Was Morty implying that there was a trend of disappearing Legendaries? And was it at all connected with the Dusknoir spiriting away Pokémon around the region? How couldn't it be? It was all too strange…too coincidental to be a series of coincidences. Kuni wasn't as wily or cunning as Silver, nor was she as logical and thoughtful as Lyra, but she knew better than to think that all of this wasn't unrelated. "I'll talk to them first and foremost when Lyra wakes up—no," she snarled to no one in particular and threw her broom down with a harsh clatter, earning a rueful chuckling sound from Vaporeon, "Lyra and Silver need to work out all of their problems, because I doubt the two of them could otherwise be in the same room and think straight without feeling guilty for no freaking reason." She kicked her forgotten broom aside and stormed, barefoot and sloppily tucked into a bathrobe, into the living quarters to try and get some sleep, even though she had no idea how she'd do that when she would only be getting up again in an hour and a half or so to carry out Morty's plan.

Lyra had either fallen asleep in the throes of the curse, or she'd broken it and then fell asleep thereafter, Silver believed, for now she was peaceful…and snuggling into him.

_Kuni, I hate you, _he thought with gritted teeth as her head came to rest on his chest, her breathing even. _You knew how bad this would be for me because she'd never do this to me consciously. _Though, Silver had to admit, he enjoyed the warmth of her body on his. She was still feverishly warm and shivering, but she clung to him as though she wouldn't survive without the solidity of his body.

Typhlosion was amused by his obvious suffering. Especially now, as Lyra's arm wrapped over his chest and her breath tickled his neck. Silver swallowed, trying not to flinch from her touch. Knowing that she wasn't conscious, she couldn't be aware that her warm pillow was really Silver and not her Typhlosion (had he really filled out THAT much since he was fourteen?). Could Silver really be upset about that?

_You're not going to be happy in the morning, though, _he thought with resignation, and then hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him through her shivering and her fever. For now, he'd take what he could get. When he could truly apologize…he would. He swore he would. What if she had died or been lost to the curse? Silver needed to stop putting it off so that someday—if he was even worth her time—he could really hold her in his arms like that.

He closed his eyes and drifted into a combination of sleep and memories, just as he always did when things didn't go right.

_Swathed in a gauzy scarlet dress with her hair flowing free, Lyra sat on the beach of one of the Whirl Islands, the one she'd encountered and befriended Lugia in. Tears stained her cheeks and painted trails of salt down her face as she sat in the sand and stared at the sky. The date with Red hadn't gone as planned earlier. He had confessed they were better off friends at dinner in a fancy Olivine City restaurant, leaving Lyra to wrangle in and cull the fond emotions that had blossomed for the quiet trainer. Her Xatu embraced her with one wing, also gazing into the distance. She murmured, "I screwed it up with Red, too, didn't I? I just always screw things up." _

Don't think of it that way, _Xatu said, embracing her trainer kindly. _It has nothing to do with you. Red has not seen humans in months, and suddenly you come along and I will bet that he does not know what to do. I doubt he has ever felt anything remotely romantic for anyone and fears what he even feels.

_Lyra gave a sigh, staring at the ocean. She felt the presence of Lugia as he dozed peacefully in his natural habitat, breathing heavily as she held in tears. It didn't matter. First she'd said something to Silver that was unforgivable that had ruined their friendship, and now by going out on a few dates with Red she had dented her relationship with him. Had he even felt something for her in the way she had started to feel things for him?  
_

_She'd never tell anyone that she'd started to feel anything for him at all, if they asked. That it was a mutual decision to cut off their brief relationship. "If anyone asks you specifically, Xatu—even other Pokémon—don't tell them I liked Red at all, and that it was just a stupid experiment, okay?"  
_

I can do that. But Typhlosion and the others already can sense your emotions, _Xatu replied gently, enclosing her Trainer entirely in her patterned wings. _You are not at fault for feeling things for others, Lyra. Never think that.

_Lyra choked back a sob and twisted to embrace Xatu, almost tackling her to the ground, and cried, "I just mess things up all the time, Xatu, and I can't fix any of it. First Silver, and now Red, and…" She didn't add her last words. _More than anything else, I've been in love with two guys and managed to hurt them while I loved them, and I can never forget that.

_Xatu sat there, holding her trainer as she cried freely, letting her sobs echo across the waves. As Lyra sat there, the waves suddenly took on a familiar quality, a sound that had called to her not long ago. It was a voice, male and concerned, tugging her from the reality she felt herself entrapped in. Though this moment on the beach felt real, his voice felt more solid and substantial than anything else he said._

"Lyra. Please be here. Please be okay."

_This reality slowly dissolved, and Xatu disappeared from her mind. Lyra called after her, but her mouth suddenly felt stuffed with sand and her throat constricted by cables. _

"I didn't get there fast enough. I'm really sorry. I could've prevented this, I know I could've, but I didn't."

_Lyra realized that it was Silver calling to her._

_Silver, the one she had been trying to finally get over by dating Red. _

_She lifted her head, but it wasn't the head on her shoulders that she felt, it was something substantial and heavy. Light poured into this pseudo reality and _her eyes opened, and all sensation returned in a thunderous crash.

"Lyra!" Lyra was on her back, staring at the ceiling of the Dance Theatre, and she felt feverish but filled with a sudden clarity. Her dreams were muddled…she couldn't quite remember how she came to the Dance Theatre, either, but what other building had mahogany support beams in the ceiling? She twisted her head to the side—

—and saw Silver sitting up next to her, his eyes wide.

Lyra's own eyes widened, and she stared at him. This was a face she knew, but the raw concern and relief wasn't familiar in those deep red eyes. When she'd battled him a few days ago, his face had been inscrutable, but his posture had been shy and repentant in ways it had never been before. Even now it was. Why was he here? In fact, why was he on the same bed as her in the first place? "Silver…" she breathed, and then rolled away, her face flaming. "Don't look at me like that," she said, her voice stuck in her throat.

"Lyra, I know our history hasn't been great lately, but you need to listen to me," Silver started, but Lyra sat up and slid out from under the covers, not aware enough to be nervous of the thin white shift she was wearing and how it had ridden up uncomfortably high. "Lyra, I—" Silver attempted, but Lyra whirled, glowering at him.

"You should hate me," she said, pointing at him with ferocity. "You should hate me, and here you are and I don't know why we're here at all. So please leave before I do something stupid like I did on that night three years ago." Before he could muster his apparently-stricken thoughts to reply, Lyra padded toward the door, her Typhlosion—who had been curled up near the base of the bed—following her on her way.

She didn't even get to open the door before Kuni opened it, peering in with one critical eye. "Don't move another step," she warned, and Lyra raised her eyebrows. What was going on? Were Silver and Kuni conspiring against her in some strange plot?

Kuni peered in and growled, "You two need to talk. This is getting out of hand. Actually, you two not talking to each other got out of hand at least two and a half years ago. So, I'm not letting you out until you two kiss and make up." While Lyra and Silver both made loud noises of protest, Typhlosion shoved past, gave her Trainer a sympathetic look, and then the door closed. The sound of a lock clicking filled with Lyra with dread.

She and Silver were utterly alone with nothing but their self-doubts.

* * *

_A/N: I didn't do one of these last chapter, so I'll go over a few things.  
_

_I've made Lyra's mother a former kimono girl because, what the hey? It's fun and no one gets hurt in the process! That can't necessarily be said for the rest of this story._

_And yes. I've gotten Ghost Pokemon involved. And Ho-oh has disappeared? Whoa? There's something pretty nefarious going on._

_Plus, don't you think Kuni is a little too concerned about Morty, almost? Or is it just me? Hmmm..._

_Please review! I'd appreciate the kind words/suggestions/even the flames very much!_


	5. Just Talk

A minute passed. And then another. Eventually, it became five, and silence reigned solemn in the chill of Kuni's bedroom in the Dance Theatre.

Silver wasn't sure what to make of Lyra, huddled against the door. She seemed confused. He doubted that she could remember anything that had happened yesterday. Otherwise, she would've mentioned something about her Glaceon…or her attacker. His thoughts darkened as they wandered to him. The man had been trying to rape her after Dusknoir stole Glaceon away and if she could remember anything about yesterday, that should've concerned her.

She shivered with either cold or nerves, and she refused to meet his eye. _She hates me. She has to be scared of me, _he thought, and he ground his knuckles into his forehead. _I really f***ed it up this time. _

Silver gave Lyra a once-over, viewing the girl he knew when she was thinner. _She's changed a lot. _Her hair hung loose and long, lacking much of the flip at the ends that it used to have, and her brows seemed to arch less than they used to, though that could've been from the serious expression she seemed to have adopted sometime in the past few years. What stunned him, though, was that she suddenly had _curves. _Lyra had been a rangy, skinny girl right up until the time they parted. Now she had hips and a bust…but she hadn't really grown much, height-wise. He doubted that she topped five-foot-one in her bare feet. Though he'd seen Lyra lately, he'd never really looked at her too closely. Honestly, he just felt bad whenever he'd been in her presence.

She was so beautiful in the morning sun, and Silver wanted to run over to her, crying, telling her how stupid that he'd been, but he was immobile.

Lyra looked over at him. "Silver…" she began, and her voice was low, far lower than it had ever been when they'd travelled together—though even then, it had started to drop from its lofty pitches. He decided it had mellowed further with age. Sighing, she met his eyes. The light caught in her irises, hazel and somehow opaque, and turned them tawny. "Silver. I don't know what happened after I stepped out on stage last night, and that scares me, but I need to tell you something."

Silver couldn't speak as her eyes clouded further. She said, "I'm sorry this went on for so long. This silence. The…the awkward battles."

Her words made Silver angry. What did _she _have to apologize for? She had said _words! _He had been violent with her; even if he hadn't hurt her, what he did wasn't at all acceptable. "Don't apologize!" Silver barked. When Lyra looked at him with eyes that blazed with alarm, he gave a sigh, looking anywhere but her. "Lyra…you have no reason to apologize, you idiot."

She stared at him. "Why don't I? I _avoided _you for three years! Three years, Silver!" Lyra stood up, marching over to him. Silver sat still as she stopped not far from him, her eyes wild and sad all at the same time. "I don't know what's brought you here, but I need you to understand that I'm at fault for avoiding you and using my Champion title as an excuse."

Silver gazed up at her, as he was still sitting. Her eyes were intense, filled with the flames he was familiar with, and her mouth was a thin line of tension, but she was wrong. Sighing quietly, Silver didn't really know what to do. Words were not his strong suit. Sure, his vocabulary was exceptional, but saying what he truly thought and felt was incomprehensible. He couldn't grasp what he really wanted to say.

Slowly standing, Silver took a blanket with him, and he settled it around her shoulders. "You're going to think more clearly if you stop shivering," he said, his voice far quieter and gentler than he knew he could muster.

She hesitantly grasped the blanket and then sat beside Silver. They sat without speaking for a few seconds before Silver murmured, "I'm so stupid, Lyra. I am so f***ing stupid." He turned to gaze at her, and she was about to protest at what he said. _Why? I'm not honorable, Lyra. Don't defend me. _"Don't you even start now. Just listen to me. I screwed up," he admitted. Suddenly his chest felt lighter, his heart less crushed by regret of what he'd done.

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "That's really funny, considering I told you that you're exactly like your father over getting us kicked out of the Hall of Memories and back into the rain."

"I was a selfish jerk like him on that night! I think it was called for!"

"I hurt you."

"I was so stupid then, Lyra, and I'm not as stupid as I was then," he growled, his hands clenching on his pant legs, crumpling the gray fabric under his fingers.

"I could have hurt you…I remember…how scared your face was when I snapped like that."

"I realized I'd gone too far. And I feel sorry, even now."

Silver brushed hair from his face…and laughed. He didn't know why. Lyra looked at him like he'd lost it, and he was fairly certain that he had. Leaning forward, he jammed his elbows into his knees and laughed until his stomach hurt, while Lyra sat there, occasionally asking if he feeling all right. He certainly wasn't all right; when had he ever been all right? But he needed to laugh about this. Lyra, always apologizing when she had no reason to, because she was practically perfect. His eyes watering, Silver eventually sat up, and he deadpanned, "Stop apologizing, Lyra. Arceus. You apologize for everything, even when it isn't your fault. But it's never your fault. I was always the one screwing things up when we travelled together."

Lyra scowled and started, "Silver, don't—"

"Name one thing that's truly your fault. A mess that we got into because of you," he said, his voice almost harsh from its flatness.

Now it was she who stared at the wall, brows knitted together in thought. Cuddling into the blankets, she was clearly pondering upon his question deeply. She wanted to be right. Silver was amused by that part of her; though she was the kindest person he'd ever met, she was also the type of person who hated being wrong almost more than anything else. _It's a good thing she pretty much never is…until now…_Silver thought.

Finally, she gave a sigh of defeat. "I…I can't think of any trouble I got us into. I mean, the flock of Fearows outside of the Pokémon League was definitely your fault. It isn't every day that someone tries to recreate Albert Ditchlock's _The Murkrows _with Fearows."

"I was fourteen! And…wow, you kind of make me sound like I'm even stupider than I am."

"I'm not calling you stupid, but you…you definitely threw a rock at that cliff when you lost another battle to me."

"I didn't know they were roosting there!"

Lyra smiled a little, looking away. Long, dark eyelashes hooded the hazel of her eyes. Then, she added, "I wasn't even on the same end of Cinnabar Island with you when you got into a fistfight with Blue Oak."

"I thought he stole your bag."

"I gave him my old one as payment for giving me some rare stones he'd been given. He liked that it had room for lots of Pokeballs and things."

"Shows how observant I am." Now Lyra laughed, and Silver felt…lighter. _She's…she's acting so normal. I thought I killed her. I thought I'd ruined things permanently. _Returning to a more serious tone, Silver looked away from Lyra. "But, honestly, Lyra, do you get what I'm saying? You never did anything wrong," he said, his tone gentle. "I was the one who messed up, and I messed up badly at that."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, sitting there uncertainly. Lyra's hand, to be precise. "Silver. What are you getting at?"

Silver turned to face Lyra, her hand sliding off his shoulder as he twisted. There was such a look of concern on her face that he knew he didn't deserve from her. Honestly, he was certain that he deserved none of her attention or time. Would she even be sitting and talking with him if Kuni hadn't locked them in the room together? _Just say it, _said the little voice at the back of Silver's mind. _Get it out there. _"I'm sorry," he said softly, glancing away. He felt his cheeks flame; that had been much easier to say than he'd thought it would be.

Lyra exhaled. "That's honestly the first time I've ever heard you say that."

"Yeah. I'm stupid. I know."

Drawing closer to him, she settled her hand back on his shoulder. This time, it was there firmly, like the reassurance of the sun after a frigid winter. "You waited a long time to say it if you've been as sorry as you seem now," she chastised, a note of amusement in her voice.

_That's it? She's just forgiving me? _Silver turned to her, just enough so that he could see her. He didn't deserve her grace. "In other words, you shouldn't forgive me for that," Silver murmured.

"I'm fine with what happened, Silver," she said. "We were both immature and stupid. We were going to make mistakes. We both messed up badly, and since you know you messed up and I know I messed up, we can come to the conclusion that we were both really stupid. I was just afraid you hated me. Since you don't hate me, I'm…I'm okay."

Studying her with his eyes like garnet, he blurted, "Then if you're okay with me, why do you look so sad?" _Ugh. Way to go, you pussy. Now you sound like one of her flippant friends._

Lyra's thawed personality froze over once more, and her expression became guarded and wary. Opening and closing her mouth to no avail, Lyra suddenly seemed to take an interest in her bare toes. Something was eating at her; however, Silver couldn't begin to guess at what that was. She inhaled slowly, and then finally said, "Things were ugly for a while, and I haven't come to terms with that yet."

"That's pretty vague."

Her shoulders hunching under the quilt, Lyra quietly admitted, "After we stopped talking, everyone else went their own ways as well. Ethan left, and he went to the Hoenn and the Sinnoh. I've heard from my cousin Kris and Suicune twice in three years, and I've seen them once since then—plus, it was in the Burned Tower with Kuni. Steven and Maylene went back to the Hoenn and Sinnoh respectively." She gave a sigh. "This was all before I turned fourteen, Silver. I was _alone. _I mean, there was Blue, Falkner and Janine, but they all had lives of their own. I hadn't been that lonely since Mom and Dad got divorced and Dad went to Unova."

"That sucks," was all that Silver managed to say. He'd oftentimes forgotten that Lyra's past was as bad as his in some ways, and she has also been able to cope better with it than he had.

Shakily exhaling, Lyra continued, "But that was manageable. I…I met with Red a lot after you left. He didn't talk much at first, when I'd go visit him up on Mt. Silver, but I talked to him. I told him everything after a while. And he opened up to me and we talked so much. I actually found myself spending weeks up there at a time sometimes. Eventually, he'd leave with me when I left. And…I kind of thought he liked me and I started liking him," she said.

Silver felt her words as a heavy blow. _She was in LOVE with that guy? Honestly? _Hoping that his blatantly painful jealousy over Red was invisible to Lyra, he asked, "So what happened?" he asked. He internally cursed when he realized the level of dark, interested curiosity that had entered his voice was not appropriate for the situation.

Lyra looked at Silver, her eyes heavy. "We decided to go on a few dates, to figure out what was going on. The first one was to one of Blue's parties. It was a stupid idea," she added, chuckling lightly at that, "I mean, they're freaking crazy. He has them in the basement of his gym around midnight with strobe lights and I don't know HOW he managed to get the trainers in his gym to work the bar but he did. And they're insane. Red and I left after half an hour…we were covered in glitter."

"Strippers?" Silver asked, unable to keep himself from smiling. Blue always was a lady's man, and he certainly knew how to get his hands on certain vices involving females.

Lyra snorted loudly before she covered her mouth with one hand. After giggling for a moment under her hand, she nodded and devilishly added, "Some were men." They both burst out laughing uncontrollably at this. Silver could only imagine Blue leading a group of plastic, attractive people into the basement of his gym at midnight to dance provocatively whilst covered in glitter. _Giovanni would be pissed to know that the current Gym leader made the basement into a makeshift strip club, _Silver thought with morbid glee.

Flopping backwards on the bed, Lyra gazed at the ceiling, stifling her laughing fit. She added more seriously, "But we had fun, in spite of being covered in stripper glitter that we didn't want to be covered in and having to spend the rest of the date at some crappy diner. The rest of our dates went really well…and then suddenly Red said that he wasn't interested in me that way. He said we were better off friends. I wasn't going to make a scene at that fancy restaurant we were at, so I just nodded in agreement, said my mother had called and wanted me to come visit her that night, and I left. I went to find Lugia's island and cried for ages."

Silver gazed down at her, watching the dead, dampened expression on her face. She'd taken it hard. Something told him that if she hadn't been so lonely to begin with, she wouldn't have taken Red's rejection so hard. He felt himself simmer with anger, but mostly he found himself feeling terrible. _I should've come back sooner. I didn't realize that it was more than just me being an idiot. _Silver lowered himself so that he was sprawled out next to Lyra. It reminded him of when they were thirteen again, staring up at the sky whilst flat on their backs.

_"Do you see the great Kyogre in the sky?" Lyra had whispered to Silver. It was also winter then, probably the last one they spent together, and her breath manifested in towering clouds against the starry sky._

_ Silver had gazed at the sky, too, and he frowned. "What?"_

_ "The Kyogre!" She had lifted her arm, casting snow over herself and Silver, and traced the constellation in question with her finger. Then she told a legend about how space itself was a great ocean, and there was a Kyogre that controlled it in its earliest days until it stilled. That very Kyogre froze itself and became nothing more than a pattern of stars. Lyra told it with such love and such regard that Silver made her tell him more stories about other constellations…that was, until Nurse Joy came out of the Mt. Moon Pokémon Center and told them to get their "butts inside unless they felt like freezing to death", an order to which they had complied._

"Silver?" Lyra prompted, gazing sideways at him.

He lifted his own arm, in the fashion Lyra once had, and traced the grain on the wooden ceiling with a pointed finger. "You used to tell me stories about the stars all the time. All the stupid legends that I never cared for, but you just…you told them like each one mattered, even if stars are just balls of burning gas out in space," he said.

Brow furrowed slightly, Lyra rolled over onto her side, facing Silver. "You remember all of those?"

"You told me about Kyogre, and Machoke's Belt, and the Ursaring Major and the Teddiursa Minor in the sky," he said, feeling a little abashed as he told her that. "You told me about every constellation in the winter sky, actually. I can't just forget all of those stories you told me."

Lyra looked at him, a strange sort of understanding in her eyes, and she smiled slightly. Before Silver could justify anything that he said or implied with his words, she rolled over, linking an arm over his chest. Her eyes closed, she whispered, "I kind of needed to hear that."

Old Silver would've pushed her away and snapped at her for touching him. Silver closed his eyes, feeling physically tense. _I really don't deserve this. _"Let's get your friend back in here. She's probably worried that we killed each other," he said, feeling too warm at Lyra's affection.

"Kuni's such a worrywart," she muttered, but she sat up and freed Silver. Bringing the quilt with her, she padded to the door. Lyra knocked on it three times and called, "Kuni! We figured things out! Let us out!"

A few seconds later, a muffled voice answered. "Did you two kiss?"

Lyra and Silver exchanged awkward looks, their faces burning at the prospect. Carefully as to not upset anyone, Lyra responded, "You know, kiss and make up is merely metaphorical."

"Aw, hell no, you two had the hots for each other so badly for so long. If you don't kiss, this is going to be seriously dissatisfying," Kuni complained tetchily.

Silver got off the bed, his stomach a pit of flames. As much as he'd wanted to do that in the four years he'd been in love with Lyra, it wasn't Kuni's place to force his hand. _Damn it, woman, I will kill you for this, _he thought darkly, letting his jerk-faced self from his younger years glow through for a moment. Walking past Lyra, he muttered, "Stand back for a second." Lyra edged back a few feet nervously, leaving Silver the room to violently kick the door near the doorknob. They both heard the snapping of a rusty lock, and Silver flung the door open.

"Did you just break my door?" Kuni asked in disbelief. She was sitting about seven feet away from the door, and Vaporeon was curled up on her lap, staring at Silver with one menacing eye. He was a baleful piece of shit, Silver would give him that much. But the morning sun cast strange shadows about Kuni's exhausted face; there was a good chance that she had spent the night worrying about Lyra.

Padding cautiously up to the door, Lyra peered out at her friend. "I'm sorry. But you can't just force that kind of thing," she said, holding up a hand apologetically.

_Tactful response, _Silver thought. There was nothing that could be interpreted from it. He eyed Kuni coolly, leaning against the doorframe. "We're okay. Honestly."

After she pushed Vaporeon gently from her lap, Kuni stood. She pointed to the two of them and replied, "Prove it. Honestly."

Silver could practically hear Lyra roll her eyes. "You're so pushy." She dropped her quilt and flung herself at Silver, wrapping her arms around him. Momentarily shocked, Silver looked down stupidly to confirm that Lyra had indeed hugged him. When he was absolutely certain that, yes, those were her arms around his back, Silver found himself crushing her to his body, hugging her tightly. _I missed you, _he thought at her. _I really missed you._

"Well, it's not a kiss, but I guess it'll do," Kuni said nearby. Her voice practically dripped with practiced boredom.

Lyra shrugged, and she gazed up at Silver, eyes still bright with fever. As if she hadn't heard Kuni, she said, "I was really lonely without you."

_Did you read my mind? _Silver thought at her. Instead, he gave a faint smile and closed his eyes, holding onto her. This moment needed to last. It didn't need to be fleeting like every other moment, where the beautiful colors of sunset suddenly fade into the dull grays of dusk—it needed permanence, in his opinion. He needed this, but he didn't know if Lyra needed this quite like he did. She smelled like white sands and non-scented flowers in this much-needed moment that needed to be more like an eternity. Silver replied, "I really missed you."

"Yes, keep pretending like I'm not here," Kuni whispered, and Silver heard the strange, maliciously keen joy in her voice. At that, Silver gently released Lyra from his arms, though he really wanted to pick her up and carry her off somewhere different…

…and he remembered Glaceon in that moment.

Lyra certainly seemed to have the ability to read minds, as she turned to Kuni and planted her hands on her hips, exuding power in spite of her weak physical state and her flimsy white shift. "Now that this is out the way, what's going on? How did I get here?"

Kuni shot Silver a look. Shifting her weight to her left hip and coughing deeply twice, she asked, "Well, what do you remember?"

"I remember getting here yesterday…we danced in the Dance Theatre," she said, and Silver remembered her grace and found the smudges of makeup left over on her cheeks and around her eyes, "and…I don't know. Suddenly I woke up from nightmares in your bed with Silver, and you made us sit and talk in there. What's going on?" she repeated with ferocity.

Without mincing words, Kuni gently questioned, "Do you remember last night if I mention Glaceon and the move Curse?"

Lyra frowned…and the frown loosened. Her fierce expression died and was replaced with a cold, hollow fear. "Glaceon." She fell to her knees and planted her palms for balance. "Glaceon…is gone. Arceus."

Silver and Kuni knelt by her at exactly the same time. Vaporeon, pitying the human, walked over and wrapped himself soothingly about her. "Lyra," Kuni whispered, her hand on her shoulder. "it's okay. We'll find her."

"I could've stopped that son of a b**** from spiriting away my Pokémon!" Lyra snapped. Her eyes furious, she glanced between Silver and Kuni. He noticed that the whites of her eyes had taken on a wet, reddish hue from tears that she refused to spill. "Instead I let him curse me and then..." She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Kuni tried to reach toward her, to smooth her hair back or affectionately hold her, but Lyra glowered at her. Ignoring any advances from Silver of Kuni, she smoothed her shift and declared, "I will find her. I'm getting dressed, preparing to leave, and then I'm out of here. I have to fix this."

"Where will you even start?" Kuni demanded. "You know nothing."

"The Bell Tower and the Burned Tower, the areas closest to the incident last night," Lyra replied, and she turned to walk away.

Before Lyra could make it far, Kuni scrambled to her feet and growled, "Do you know that Morty hasn't been in his gym for three weeks due to strange circumstances of these curses? Do you know that this isn't a single incident? Do you even know that Entei and Raikou have disappeared once more from the tower? If you don't believe me on that last one, I went and checked that myself this morning. There are strange things happening, Lyra," she snarled, and Silver suddenly realized her look of preoccupation probably had more to do with the disappearances of Entei and Raikou than with her friend's recovery from a Curse. "You will find _nothing _if you don't at least ask for information and some help first."

Lyra stared at her friend, startled by her outburst. With a huff, Kuni stomped over to her and took her by the arm. "Lyra, you need to know what's going on before you charge off after your Glaceon. Plus, you're still burning up. I want you to at least get out of the high fever range before you go running off, all right?" The bedraggled-looking young woman shot a pointed look back at Silver, obviously wanting his support on the matter.

Silver slowly stood. In as gentle of a voice he could muster, Silver said, "You should listen to her. You have no idea what you're going up against."

"What makes you think that you do?!" she snarled. Frozen by her words, Kuni, Silver, and even Vaporeon watched Lyra warily as she glared at them. Lyra paced back and forth, resembling a caged Persian as she paced, and she soliloquized, "You know very little. I see it in your faces. Kuni, you know more than I do, but you're grasping at straws. You know of strange things going on, but what else? You're confused. You don't know how to go about this. I need to find out everything. If this has happened to other people, I need to make this stop. Glaceon needs to come back home, safe and sound, and I won't let anyone else do it. I can't fail her twice."

"Then let me help, you idiot," Silver growled, unable to stop the words from flowing out of his mouth.

She raised an eyebrow, as if he had suddenly gone crazy. Silver walked over to her, settling a hand on her shoulder to calm her frantic pacing. "Lyra. Please. Two minds are better than one. I might not be the smartest person out there, but I'll help out in whatever way that I can. Just…don't do this alone," he said.

Lyra dropped her eyes and swayed. Her cheeks were pink from a combination of high emotion and fever. Kuni cautiously moved to her side, supporting her friend with a strong, thin arm. "Come on. We're going to help you, but you need to breathe, Lyra. We'll go talk in the kitchen, all right?"

Shakily nodding, she leaned heavily into Kuni as they walked toward the kitchen. Silver and Vaporeon trailed behind at a distance, the latter disinterested in all that was going on, and the former painfully aware of the emotionally charged fog that seemed to cloud the air.

* * *

_A/N: This will be the last chapter I'm posting for today. There's a lot of editing and fixing to be done with my later chapters at this point. My guess is that you'll be seeing chapters six and seven within the next week and a half or so, though. I have written up through chapter eight at this point and started on chapter nine, but again, editing and rewriting portions..._

_I know they made up pretty easily after three years apart, but think about it. Lyra feels abandoned, and Silver just wants to have the friendship (and more) with her that he used to have, since it's probably the best one he's ever had. And things are definitely not perfect between them...we'll see this in some later chapters.  
_

_Lyra's getting down to business pretty hardcore here, too! What a woman!_

_This is also the only chapter I've written so far written in only one POV. Wow.  
_

_Please review! I still have no freaking clue if anyone actually cares for this story or not-aside from StellaMuffins. Thanks so much for my first review, favorite AND follow. You are a majestic individual, and I give you my affections._


	6. Your Little Advantage

Cupping the delicate china cup in her hand, Lyra inhaled the herbal scents of the tea that Kuni had brewed with the help of Typhlosion's steady flame in the kitchen. Normally she would have enjoyed the scent, but a new hollowness echoed within her that left her almost painfully numb. _Glaceon, _her mind whispered over and over again. _Glaceon, Glaceon, Glaceon. _Lyra felt Typhlosion's head resting on her shoulder, murmuring comforting words in a language that the girl wished she could understand, but it was a small comfort. Lyra had failed one of her Pokémon.

She had to find Glaceon. The sooner Kuni started talking, the better chance Lyra had at tracking down her Eeveelution.

Silver's presence beside her would have been far more appreciated if she didn't feel like she had failed her Pokémon so terribly. _If I'd brought other Pokémon, if I'd asked Kuni or Silver for help—I mean, he was there. They won't say how he got here, but he had to have been there while Kuni and I danced last night. _He also had a cup of untouched tea, though his sat unattended near the center of the table.

Kuni sashayed over to the table, hips swinging in their usual sprightly beat in spite of her dark facial expression. The kitchen was cramped, in spite of the fact that anywhere from six to nine people lived in the Dance Theatre on a normal day. Setting a plate laden with pieces of buttered bread on the table, she pulled herself up onto the stool across from Lyra. "Drink up. Eat something. You need it," she said.

Lyra sipped the tea mechanically. She noticed Silver taking a drink, too, as if to encourage her to take a sip. _He's changed a lot, _she thought, _he's really calmed down and gotten nicer, but he still has that guarded, ready to fight or flee look about him. _As the hot tea nearly scalded her mouth, she tasted something sickeningly sweet in it and nearly choked on it. "Kuni, what'd you put in this?" she gasped, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

"There's a fever-reducing herb in there that makes it taste funny, so I put some sweeteners in there to try and hide it," she said.

Sputtering, Lyra set the cup down and took a moment to realign her thoughts. She snatched up a piece of bread to try and dampen the horrible aftertaste in her mouth. "You spiked her tea?" Silver asked gruffly, eyes as frigid as the blood of a dead man.

"Like she'd take something if I asked her to," Kuni retorted defensively, flattening her palms against the table. It was a nervous gesture coming from her. In that moment, Lyra realized that she was frightened by Silver, who she had just managed to anger greatly.

Lyra chewed the bite of bread thoughtfully. Upon swallowing the mouthful, she looked to Kuni with steely eyes. "Talk. What do you know?"  
"A few weeks ago, Morty left the Gym in the charge of one of his top Trainers, a girl around our age named Holly. He was worried about something and didn't give the rest of us much to go on. Eusine didn't even know what he was up to, and he's one of Morty's only close friends. Not only that, but not long before he just disappeared like that, we'd received reports from this region and others that ghost Pokémon—Dusknoir, precisely—had been spiriting away Pokémon after attacking their Trainers. In a few cases like yours, a 'possessed' person was involved." Kuni paused to sip her own tea that was likely clean of strange herbs and sweeteners. After she swallowed it, she continued, "So last night, when you were trapped in nightmares, I got a call from Morty. The bastard told me to go check the Burned Tower this morning, and you want to know what? I find that Entei and Raikou have disappeared from the tower again. They were there yesterday when I went to meet with Eusine."

"What did you and Eusine talk about?" Lyra asked. From past experience she knew that Kuni and Eusine didn't get along and didn't make it a habitual thing to just chat.

"Morty," she growled, and something flashed through her eyes that Lyra interpreted possibly as angered, unrequited love. After all, for all the irritation she expressed towards Morty, there had to be a good, solid reason. Kuni rarely worried about the well-being of her male friends, so it was likely she hoped that he would someday be more than a friend. "We're worried about him."

Silver cut in, asking, "Were Entei and Raikou asleep?"

"They're never fully asleep," she replied reproachfully, "but they seemed fine."

Lyra silently thought for a few moments. Strange ghosts, possessions, missing Legendaries, an AWOL Morty…what was the connection? What was going on? "Dusknoir…are they of the Duskull line? I mean, I caught a Duskull once in the Safari Zone." Lyra rubbed her cheekbone absentmindedly, frowning. "I'm not familiar with its evolutions."

"Dusknoir _do_ belong to that line," Silver responded, earning Lyra's attention. He seemed startled by her full focus. Steeling himself, he continued, "Duskull evolve into Dusclops, which then evolve into Dusknoir." Reaching into his packet, he withdrew a dented Pokedex. Lyra wasn't aware that he had one at all—where had he gotten it? Now was not the time for the question, though, as he pulled up a picture of Dusclops. It was an ugly, tattered looking thing with tree trunk legs and a single red eye. She scooted closer to him to look at the image.

"My little Duskull will evolve into that ugly bugger?" Lyra asked, raising her eyebrows.

Silver nodded, mouth tugging wryly in the corner. He shut his Pokedex and planted his jaw in his hand. Stupidly enough, Lyra noted that it had become stronger and more defined since the last time she'd seen him. "It evolves into an even uglier bugger, but you've seen Dusknoir. They supposedly carry spirits off to the land of the dead. That's just a myth, though, so who knows what they're really up to."

"They still spirited my Glaceon away…where do Dusknoir live naturally?" she asked, eyes suddenly brighter. What if they'd taken her somewhere tangible, somewhere she could reach?

"Duskull and Dusclops naturally live in the Hoenn and the Sinnoh," Silver replied. "Dusknoir are uncommon in the wild, since they have to be traded to evolve, as far as anyone knows."

"Are you planning on gallivanting off to the Sinnoh and the Hoenn?" Kuni asked flatly.

Lyra pushed her hair off of her face. Thoughts raced frantically through her head. "Where are there a lot of ghosts around here?" she asked. "Just list off places."

"Sprout Tower at night…Morty's Gym…Mt. Silver…Burned Tower, but I've already checked there," Kuni listed.

For some reason, the second to last name struck Lyra. "Misdreavus," she said. A memory flashed through her head of her first trip through Mt. Silver.

_Cold but sweaty, Lyra plodded onward as Typhlosion padded alongside her. The caverns were twisting and dark; the light of her Typhlosion's flames did little to light the heavy darkness around her. "Hopefully it isn't much farther to the top, eh?" Lyra wheezed, tightening her scarf around her neck. The jacket did little to protect her from the cold._

_ Rounding the corner, she met a pair of startlingly red eyes hanging in front of her that were definitely not human. Lyra didn't even get to yelp out of surprise before an odd, high cackle filled the air and the eyes vanished. A few moments later, a voice grumbled, "Misdreavus, behave yourself."_

_ A Trainer appeared not long after this, a young man a few years Lyra's junior. He had untidy black hair and dark eyes…Lyra couldn't help but wonder who this kid was; the mountain was so dangerous that only those with all of the Kanto and Johto Gym Badges were allowed to climb it. "Sorry about that. My Misdreavus must've sensed ghosts or Psychic types with you," he said._

_ Lyra tapped the Friend Ball on her belt. "A Xatu."_

_ "Oh. Well, Xatu can sense all the terror in the future, right? Misdreavus are kind of into that," he said, "and they sense disturbances like that, even the really small ones. They sense that because they're hungry for fear and pain."_

"Misdreavus can sense strange disturbances," Lyra said out loud. Grabbing the edge of the table (disrupting her Typhlosion in the process), she gazed at Silver and Kuni, and she knew her expression was wild. "The Misdreavus at Mt. Silver are powerful. They'll be able to sense it because they're hungry for the fear in these attacks."

Silver frowned at her, but then his eyes brightened, too. He understood what she was saying. "If we can get them to communicate what they sense, then we can track down Dusknoir."

Lyra nodded, giving a tight, triumphant smile. It didn't matter that Kuni's eyes traced her with a worried strain of judgment or that her Typhlosion was patting her gently on the back, trying to calm her down. _I might have a lead. _Settling back on her stool, she looked to Silver. "Hey…you have Gengar. He could talk to the Misdreavus for us, since that species literally has no respect for humans, and then relay it to Xatu. We'll see what they can sense."

Silver's hand immediately went to his belt, tugging at a Pokeball. "Didn't necessarily say I was coming with you, you know, but all right. I suppose someone has to make sure you don't pass out in the snow when you overexert yourself with that fever."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "You said 'we'. I'm assuming that you were hoping to help out."

When the Pokeball came loose, Silver pressed a button. The temperature in the room dropped, leaving Lyra shivering as Gengar, rounded and deeply purple, appeared, grinning darkly at her. He was a nasty piece of work to most—even Silver—but as soon as he saw Lyra, his sneer softened and he held out one gaseous paw to Lyra. She took it, though she felt it as little more than a cylinder of chilliness in her hand. He preferred to be intangible…unless it suited his purposes to be a little more…solid. "Hello, Gengar. Long time, no see, right?" she said.

"Yeah, no kidding," he said in a voice that reminded her of the voices of men who'd smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for thirty years.

_Wait, he SAID that?_

"Did you just say that?" Lyra interrogated sharply, staring at him in total shock.

Silver and Kuni looked at her with interest. "What?" They both asked.

Gengar rolled his eyes at them and floated up onto the table, snatching a slice of bread from the tray. He threw it in his mouth. "Of course I did. You were Cursed, weren't you? I can smell it from a mile off."

"Yes, I was Cursed," she said, exasperated, "but what does that have to do with understanding you? I can't understand Typhlosion at all." The other two humans were indubitably confused by Lyra's conversation with Gengar.

"You have a ghost's residue in you. Duh," Gengar replied around a mouthful of another bread slice. He hopped off the table and dipped his head respectfully to Typhlosion. Noticing Lyra's curious expression, he patted her leg. She felt it as skin on skin contact this time, not the bitter chill that it usually was. "Means you can hear ghosts for a while, but not other Pokémon. Like Psychic Pokémon, we've got a couple languages we can talk in, and one is the ghost language. So for a while you'll understand us, meaning you can communicate both ways with us, not just talking at us. It'll last about a month. In the mean time, you get to have conversations with me. Yay, right? By the way, did Silver finally get his derriere in gear and apologize?"

Lyra couldn't help but laugh and shot a glance at Silver. "He did. But…Gengar…I lost one of my Pokémon to this Pokémon called Dusknoir. They used a possessed human to attack me while they stole my Glaceon."

Gengar gazed thoughtfully off into the distance. "You sure it was a Dusknoir? As creepy as they are, they aren't the sort to try and harm others," he said.

Silver broke into their conversation by standing up and positioning himself closer to Lyra, frowning mightily. Waving an arm between Lyra and Gengar as if he was attempting to break an invisible barrier, he demanded, "What the f*** is going on here?!"

Kuni joined him, leaning to one side to get a clear look at Lyra. "Did you go totally nuts? You're talking to a freaking Gengar," she said.

Gengar rolled his eyes and stuck up the middle digit of his ghostly hand in response to Kuni's somewhat derogatory comment, earning an angry gasp from the girl. Only just able to keep a straight face in spite of Gengar's disregard for Kuni, Lyra said, "If you'd just been Cursed, apparently you'd be able to talk to him, too. Anything else you'd like me to tell them, Gengar?"

"Kuni is a massive b**** and she smells strongly of Rapidash dung," Gengar said, examining each of the three digits on his one hand with an impassive face.

Lyra shook her head. "That's too rude."

"Well, then, tell them that you've got a month. If you're hunting ghosts, your little advantage isn't going to last long. Plus, I'm going to warn you about something," he said, giving Lyra a very serious look. He pointed at himself. "Most ghosts aren't like me. I respect you. I evolved because of you, and Silver is treating me a lot better than he did because of you. Other ghosts don't have that with you. If they realize you can talk their language, they might try to get into your head and make you see things that aren't there or temporarily steal your body. The more you let them realize that you're like them, the more they'll make you suffer for it. So be careful, Lyra." He wandered over to Silver and pressed the button on his Pokeball, disappeared into its spherical recesses.

"What was that about?" Kuni demanded.

Lyra looked at Kuni sternly. "I'm in for a hell of a ride," she said simply. Sliding off the stool, she padded toward the hallway that Kuni's room branched off. "I'm going to get dressed. There's too much to do right now to waste any time."

Silver moved to follow her. Eyebrows slightly raised, Lyra asked, "Are you coming so you can watch me get dressed, Silver?"

His cheeks flamed at her suggestion. "Hey, idiot, remember that I'm coming with you, right? So I need to get my own crap together if you want to head out soon," Silver said, his voice fiercely stubborn.

Every fiber of Lyra's being wanted to object to his idea, suddenly. She didn't want him there to watch her bumbling around, frantically searching for someone who disappeared into thin air. This was her fault. She'd created this mess for herself; hadn't her mother always told her to clean up after herself as a child? Yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. Besides, Silver would dog her until she said yes. She sensed that the persistence of his personality had not changed. "All right," she said, nodding slowly. _I can't promise I'll be any fun on this journey, or that I'll be a little ray of sunshine, _she added silently.

Kuni twirled the ends of her hair and shifted her weight irritably to the other hip. "Don't expect me to come. I have duties, so I'm going to be here. Wherever you guys end up going, call me when you get there. Don't be like Morty and disappear for weeks."

Lyra brushed past Silver and wrapped her arms around Kuni gently. "Thank you for all of your help, Kuni. I'll make it up to you. I'll give you all of my Game Corner coins so you can get that Dratini."

"And piss off Clair?" Kuni asked, a roguish grin returning to her face.

Lyra released her, nodding. "Get a really cutesy, girly Dratini if you can. That'd make Clair even angrier." Without another word, she turned and headed down the hallway. There was strength in feeling that she knew at least a little about where she was going. Silver's heavier footsteps resounded in the hallway behind her, along with the gentler thumps of Typhlosion's paws. _Thank you for your help, _she thought silently at Silver, but she didn't dare speak. Hot, angry tears were boiling in her eyes and cauterizing the back of her throat. If she spoke, she would certainly begin to cry; frankly, she didn't want Silver to have to deal with that.

She and Typhlosion disappeared into Kuni's bedroom. On the way in, she caught Silver's gaze on her. He was worried about Lyra, but she knew that he was hoping that it would not show on his face.

Pondering about his looks and personality was not Silver's raison d'être, but sometimes he couldn't help but look at his reflection like he couldn't believe that he was the human being that he saw staring back at him with dark red eyes.

He stood in Sayo's room, having recently freshened up and dressing in clean clothes, and he looked at himself in the mirror. His hair hung longer than he would've liked it to; it hung almost past his shoulders and spiked as it always had at the ends. However, he found that he looked even less like Giovanni if he let his hair grow long. Not that Silver looked much like his father in the first place; his face wasn't as angular, nor did they share their coloring. Giovanni was darker-skinned, darker-haired, and darker-eyed than his son. For that, Silver was glad. Unless someone had explicit knowledge that Giovanni had sired Silver, there was no way a person would ever guess that they were related.

Silver really did wonder who his mother was sometimes. His looks had to come from her.

Twisting his hair into a knot at the back of his head, he straightened his t-shirt under the unzipped leather jacket that he'd bought upon wearing out his signature red and black jacket a few years back. He'd gotten another, of course, but in the winter it provided little warmth, and so he wore an actual jacket instead. After he threw his backpack over his shoulder, he left Sayo's sunshine yellow room and entering the hall.

He noticed Lyra in the hall. Where he was dressed in dark colors, she was dressed in a white winter coat with a high neck and a wide hood unzipped over a red thermal shirt. She had put on skinny jeans and laced a pair of knee-high snow boots over them. When she was eleven or twelve, she would run around in the snow in her shorts and thigh-high socks; clearly she'd earned some common sense since. Instead of Typhlosion at her side, her Arcanine stood beside her. The huge, furry Pokémon gave Silver a withering look. Like Gengar, Arcanine had an attitude problem with most people aside from Lyra. _I've never met a Pokémon who could hate her, though. _Lyra noticed Silver as she shouldered her own backpack, her eyes bright but serious. "Nice knot," she said, startled by the sudden change in his looks.

"Long hair is a pain in the…butt," he said, catching himself at the last moment. Lyra didn't really approve much of swearing in day-to-day language. As Arcanine tapped his paws impatiently next to Lyra, Silver asked, "What happened to Typhlosion?"  
"She needed rest. Arcanine needed a little TLC," she responded simply. Gesturing to the door leading to the theatre, she added, "I'm ready to go if you are."  
He gave a nod. With grim expressions, the two turned to leave the halls. Silver spotted Kuni watching them from the kitchen at the end of the hall, her face impassive. Her Vaporeon sat by her feet, also staring after them. In that tense moment, Silver wondered what Kuni was thinking. He didn't bother himself with it, and he focused on exiting the theatre.

When they emerged from the theatre, Silver immediately noticed that snow flurries were spiraling slowly to the ground, immediately chilling his face. Lyra recalled her Arcanine and called out her Xatu. "Let's fly," she said to Silver.

He released his Crobat, giving her a businesslike nod. "Mt. Silver it is."

* * *

_A/N: Okay, well, I couldn't sleep well last night. So I spent a lot of time editing this chapter and-voila!-here we go with a new chapter a lot sooner than I expected! The next chapter might be coming out soon as well, since I got a lot of revision done last night concerning that portion of the story. It's a little bit of filler, but I don't want to just rush them over to Mt. Silver already.  
_

_I've always really liked Silver's Gengar, but I realized Haunter has to be traded to evolve. So I figure maybe Lyra had something to do with that in this AU-ish fic that I'm undertaking...wait...Alakazam has the same issue...I need to figure out an explanation for that...*gathers belongings to head to the top of Mt. Silver for eons of pondering in a Red-like fashion*_

_I realized I haven't addressed this, but yeah, I've touched on some one-sided Soulfulheartshipping in this fic. Just...wow. Red doesn't really talk, and he's such a loner. Like Xatu had told Lyra: he's been on top of Mt. Silver for quite a long time, and he probably forgot how to be social or how to feel. I mean, that amount of time away from people would make someone socially awkward-even more so than Silver-regardless of whether or not Red knows some great off-color jokes about Professor Oak and his grandson.  
_

_Shoutout to my readers from Singapore, New Zealand, and Poland (and every other location as well. Those three just stood out to me)! Wow! I can't believe people from so far away are reading my stuff. It's awesome!_

_My lovely readers...I'd love some reviews. I still really have no idea if anyone likes this or appreciates (aside from you, StellaMuffins. Thank you for another review. You're a beautiful human being.)_

_Wow, what a long A/N. I'll just...stop writing now..._


	7. No Tips

Though Silver knew that Lyra was very much a lover of her Fire-type Pokémon and Pokémon that primarily lived on the ground, she seemed like a natural denizen of the air. Leaning over her Xatu's back, she seemed relatively peaceful, considering her situation, as they soared over the Johto.

"How's Crobat in the sun?" she called over the steady keening of the wind.

"Mad!" he shouted back. Crobat muttered something unintelligible and purposefully dropped a few yards of altitude to scare Silver. When they regained the altitude once more and Silver's heart rate had slowed to a reasonable pace, he found himself watching Lyra. In her large white winter coat—which was really a snowboarding jacket, he realized—and with her determined expression, she was hardly the girl he had left behind, in either her style or her attitude. Yes, she still exuded a bright aura, held a powerful drive, and tended to blame herself for stupid things, as always, but there was a darker glint in her eyes that had never been there before. Maybe it was just the situation that made her like this. But Silver had the notion that it was more normal than a situational attitude; it had become something for her to rely upon through her loneliness. He felt his stomach twist at the thought.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, _he chanted to himself silently. _You're stupid, Silver._

After two hours of flying, they landed in Cherrygrove City to eat at a seaside café. It was actually close to lunch time; they'd woken up late that morning and neither had really eaten much of the bread at breakfast. They entered the tiny wooden outcrop of a café and sat down at a table that was meant to seat four. Lyra released her Arcanine after clearing the side opposite of the one that she and Silver had taken. Aside from them, the café was mostly empty aside from a couple in their early twenties and an old man nursing a steaming mug of coffee at the counter with a shiny Furret sprawled across his lap, much to Silver's surprise.

Before Silver could point out the rare Pokémon to Lyra, a young, blonde waitress, maybe only fifteen years old at most, nervously approached the pair and the Arcanine. Arcanine eyed her and resumed leaning across the table to be petted by Lyra. "Um, h-hi there," she said, unnerved at the sight of the huge Pokémon. She glanced at Silver and blushed profusely. Nervously tugging a paper pad from her apron pocket, the girl asked, "Um, what can I g-get you to drink?"

"Well…" Lyra looked at the drink menu for about three seconds before requesting, "Could I get a cucumber water, please?"

"Um…cucumber water?" the girl asked, frowning.

"Water, but with a slice of cucumber in it instead of lemon or lime," she said. "It says here you can substitute the lemon or lime for most fruits or vegetables." The girl followed Lyra's pointing finger to the spot on the menu, made an "Oh!" noise, and then scribbling down the request.

Silver waited for the waitress to focus her attentions on him. She blushed when she met his eyes and looked down, asking, "And, uh, what could I uh, do to you? I mean, do for you?" she added frantically, her face as red as Silver's hair.

"Um…a black coffee…" He exchanged glances with Lyra, who had an odd expression on her face. When the waitress left, he immediately turned entirely to Lyra. "What the hell is up with her?" he whispered furiously.

"Methinks the waitress doth possess a crush," she whispered back, her face betraying none of the conspiratory cadences of her voice.

Silver raised his eyebrows. Since when were girls attracted to him? According to a number of people, he was one scary young man at times with his almost perpetual scowl and very red eyes. So why was some sweet, bubblegum-chewing blonde thing attracted to him? It didn't make sense. "Methinks the Lyra doth not speak in iambic pentameter well," Silver replied, feeling stupid.

"Nice try," she said, "but good for you, knowing the term 'iambic pentameter.'"

"I'm not stupid."

"Didn't say you were."

Before Silver could make some sort of a verbal comeback, Arcanine gave him a pointed look. _Don't pick fights with Lyra. You won't win, _it said. He sighed, pushing loose hairs away from his face and settled on saying, "My dad might've been total crap, but at least he went out of his way to have me educated."

"Did he go out of his way to educate you on how to deal with young, cute blondes who go after redheaded bad boys with ponytails and leather jackets?" she answered, elbowing him playfully. She knew all too well that his father was Giovanni and that he never would have taught Silver anything but how to be a cold, suave crime honcho.

He audibly growled just as the waitress returned with Lyra's cucumber water and Silver's black coffee. It smelled strongly of a Hoenn-style grind; Silver could almost smell a wooden, wild scent to it. "W-what would you like t-to eat?" she asked them, pointedly keeping her eyes off of Silver.

"I'll just have your fruit dish, please," Lyra asked, perfectly polite as always. The waitress feverishly scribbled the order on her paper and gave Silver a single raised eyebrow, as if to say she didn't care that he was male and wore a leather jacket.

He glanced at the menu and picked the first thing he saw. Growing up with Giovanni had taught him not to be picky about food, and he'd eat any food as long as it didn't have mold growing on it or blood leaking from it. "I'll have the spicy penne rossa," he said.

"I like it spicy," she said, and then seemed to internally slap the palm of her hand to her forehead. "I mean, I like the spicy penne rossa. Good choice. I'll be back with your food as soon as possible." The waitress walked away as quickly as she could without looking like she was running away screaming from her mistakes.

Lyra stifled a chuckle. "I remember being like that," she said.

"She's probably only a year younger than you," Silver replied huffily.

"Yeah, but she seems younger. I feel bad. You really flustered her," she decided out loud, poking Silver playfully. She paused in mid-poke, eyeing Silver from head to toe in a quick, sweeping gaze. Leaning back a bit with an faint smile on her face that warmed her tired features, Lyra said, "Well, you're certainly someone to get flustered over these days."

"I'm—WHAT?" Silver stared at her. Had she taken a blow to the head? Was she calling him _hot, _in a roundabout way?

She merely smiled to herself and instead murmured to Arcanine, "I'll give you some of my chips when the food comes, okay?"

Silver wasn't sure how to respond to what she'd just said. For the moment, he decided to avoid the awkward phrasing of her question and asked, "So what's up with you talking to Gengar now?" he asked, raising one eyebrow coolly.

"I was Cursed. So I can talk to him for a while. Something about death and ghostliness lingering on me?" Shrugging, she sipped the cucumber water and then added, "Gengar sounds like he's been smoking for thirty-plus years of his life, by the way."  
"Figures," he said. "He acts like the kind of guy who would."

Fluffing Arcanine's mane-ornamented head, she retorted, "It's a little creepy. But…it's nowhere near as creepy as what could've happened last night." She shuddered at the thought, and brushed her knuckles across her lower jaw as if to cover that she was clearly affected by it. Silver had replayed the moment he'd found her enough to feel mildly nauseated at the thought of what could've occurred, and he resisted the urge to gather her into his arms to comfort her. It'd been years since he'd been sickened by the thought of wanting to touch and hold another person; he knew that for Lyra, though, it'd be awkward. Plus, it would've been wildly out of character in her eyes.

Instead, he merely replied, "I would've kicked that man's ass if he hadn't had the brains to scram."

"Silver…how'd you get him to stop?" Lyra asked, frowning slightly.

"Well…"

_Hands roaming where they shouldn't have, the man with the glowing eyes seemed intent on harming Lyra. His lips were against her neck, no doubt feeling out her pulse, and Silver, on the back of Crobat, suddenly felt very revolted, angry, and protective all at once. It consumed him in a flame of energy. Leaping from about nine feet up, Silver landed, rolled into a punch, and decimated the man's jaw. He toppled off Lyra, one hand clamped to his jaw in pain, as he stared at Silver with demonic-looking eyes. "Leave, bastard, or I'll kill you for sure," Silver snapped, vehemently glaring at the man. Without a word, the man gave him an almost frightened look and darted away, leaving Silver with Lyra._

"You punched him?" Lyra asked incredulously after Silver explained himself.

He nodded, almost feeling embarrassed by the emotion that had gone into doing something so inhumane to someone who wasn't even in control of himself at the time. A few years ago, he wouldn't have felt bad at all about punching the man. At the time he'd punched the man, it seemed like it was the kindest thing to do to someone who was hurting Lyra, but among all the other mixed feelings he had that were difficult to describe in a few sentences with the limitations of human language, Silver couldn't coherently organize the insidious mixture of almost proud and pained emotions at what he'd done. "It made him go away, didn't it?" he asked, his voice deadpan.

Lyra eyed Silver with yet another emotion he couldn't interpret in her eyes. Solemnly nodding, she absent-mindedly began to braid a lock of her hair as she replied, "Thank you for that. I was…mummified inside of myself, for lack of a better word. I wouldn't have been able to get out of that if it weren't for you."

He blushed brilliantly. _If it weren't for you. _It made him feel like he meant something…it made him feel powerful beyond compare. Of course, his brain decided to shut that down. A shameful memory of the day in the Radio Tower filled his mind, in which he'd also lost his cool—after being convinced that Lyra had joined Team Rocket. "Does this make up for the Radio Tower incident?" he asked, slyly smirking at her.

It was Lyra's turn to blush, and she threw a wadded-up napkin at him. "No!" she answered vehemently.

Silver couldn't help but laugh, and Lyra did, too. In spite of the dark, uncertain journey they were embarking on, he felt that things between him and Lyra were already looking up, especially if that thoughtless moment in the Goldenrod Radio Tower could be brought up without Lyra immediately punching him in the bicep.

He almost hated to think it, but he was glad things hadn't gone quite as planned. Suddenly he was useful, and Lyra valued his insight and his company. Whether she was desperate or confused, Silver was going to take what he could get, even if he didn't necessarily deserve it.

The food came (brought out by the young, bumbling waitress), and the two ate in silence, occasionally tossing a scrap to Arcanine. Lyra wasn't necessarily hungry; nonetheless, she knew that she needed to eat so that she didn't become sicker from low blood sugars combined with a fever and naturally low blood pressure. That wouldn't help Glaceon, nor did she feel like making Silver rescue her helpless hind end once more.

She finished eating before Silver and made the decision to use the restroom before they left again. "I'll be back in a sec," she said, and giving Arcanine a pointed look, she added, "and you stay there, fuzz-ball."

Weaving through the scattered tables, she headed toward the restroom and shut the door. Once she was inside of the ugly, pastel-tinted room, she checked her reflection in the mirror above the chipped sinks. Her skin was still pale and had a faint sheen to it, as if she'd just sprinted all the way through Victory Road, and there was a hungry brightness to her lips. In short, she looked keyed-up like a girl who had just spent half an hour making out with her boyfriend. _Not that I know what that's like, _Lyra thought stubbornly, remembering all three of Red's chaste kisses and the two quick pecks that Will had managed to steal from her when Koga had her distracted. As she frowned, she noticed something odd about her eyes. Looking closely at them in the mirror, she noticed a ruby hint surrounded her pupils that had never been there before. She blamed it on the Curse. Where else would it have come from? Like the other effects of the Curse, though, it would eventually have to fade.

Lyra decided that she'd stared at her face for too long and pushed her way into one of the stalls. Moments after she locked the door behind her, she heard the bathroom door swing open. Two loud and clearly young voices filled the cramped restroom. "I can't even tell you how _hot _that redhead is! I can't even think straight looking at him!" squealed the voice of the young blonde waitress, clearly far less prone to stuttering out of Silver's presence. Lyra couldn't help but nod in agreement; her rediscovered friend had certainly grown into his looks over the time she'd known him—not that he'd been terribly unattractive before.

Another voice, this one lower and far more attractive, declared, "I can tell from the counter. He's got this total bad-boy thing going with those angles and that hair AND that jacket, I gotta add. I wonder what his type is," she added with a giggle.

The sound of the sinks running was the only reply for a few moments before the blonde distastefully said, "I wonder if his type is that girl with the chestnut hair and the super ego. I mean, come on, she's not even that pretty. She shouldn't be so self-assured. It's creepy."

Lyra flinched at these words. The other voice sighed. "No kidding. Plus, there's this kind of weird haunted vibe off of her. It's creepy as hell." Sinking into the stall, Lyra wanted to disappear. _It's that obvious, isn't it? That there's something wrong with me?_

"Pfft. Well, if he's dating her, he can reconsider any time now," the blonde seemed to decide aloud, and she turned off the sink. "Gotta get back to work. The hottie needs his check."

"I'll go run that up at the counter if you want."

"You're such a sweetheart," the blonde said in a syrupy voice. Lyra waited until they were both gone and then slammed her fist against the wall, tears burning in her eyes. Between their complete judgment of her based on her looks and how they were treating Silver as little more than something to lust over in their verbal dissection, she wanted to lash out at both of them and cry in a corner all at once. She waited for the rational part of her brain to kick in and tell her that there was no use in feeling crappy over their stupidity, but at the same time, it only galvanized and burned bright with the pain of her loss of Glaceon.

After five minutes or so, Lyra managed to compose herself and exit the restroom after going in to do what she'd actually planned on doing. Silver's eyes latched onto her from halfway across the restaurant; in the time she'd been gone, he'd finished his lunch.

"You okay?" he asked as she sat back down in the booth.

She nodded. "Totally fine."

Not long after she sat down, the blonde waitress came over. She didn't spare Lyra a single glance and set the bill down in front of Silver. "Here's the bill. H-hope you enjoyed lunch," she said, her voice nervous.

Suddenly, Lyra felt the urge to say something insidious that would chew at the girl's conscience for the rest of the day. Propping her elbow on the table, Lyra shot a giga-watt smile at the two-faced blonde, showing off both rows of teeth. "Aw, you're such a sweetheart," she said in the exact tone that the blonde had used earlier, the one that dripped with the sweet poison of nightshade, "and I hope every other customer is lucky enough to have you as their waitress today."

The blonde glanced at her, eyes wide. Likewise, Silver was giving her a confused look. This wasn't something that the former Champion normally did, and she could sense his confusion. Lyra let her smile turn into a smirk that would make Gengar proud and added, "Have a nice day."

Once the waitress peeled herself away from the table with a disturbed facial expression, Silver immediately whispered harshly, "What the hell was that?"

Lyra explained what happened in the bathroom. Between Arcanine's dark expression and Silver's shocked one, Lyra suddenly felt like her actions were a little more justified, though her stomach churned after being so rude to the waitress. With a frown, Silver set a wad of cash next to the bill and slyly whispered, "Like I'll give her a tip now."

"You're paying the bill?" Lyra asked.

"You're not paying it. The waitress was a b****," he whispered, "and everything she said was uncalled for."

They exited the café. Buffeted by the frigid winds, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder overlooking the sea. "So she assumed we were together?" Silver asked as Lyra leaned against Arcanine for warmth.

As she nodded, she rubbed her gloved hands together furiously for warmth. Arceus, she hated the cold. "Pretty much. It doesn't take much for a girl with the lack of maturity she has to assume that a male individual and a female individual sitting a table together are boyfriend and girlfriend. Last time I went out to lunch with Blue, the waitress asked how long we'd been going out."

Silver snorted as he zipped up his jacket. "You're not his type."

"Not enough chest for that," Lyra responded wryly, and before Silver could remark, she withdrew Arcanine and released her Xatu. "Let's get going."

"Um…right." They took off, soaring into the sky.

The café was fairly empty for lunch time. Kayla, the young blonde waitress, finally went and collected the bills from now unoccupied tables. Knowing Cherrygrove City, she knew that the general clientele of the café tended to be either older folks or the bumpkins from Newbark Town, and most tipped generously. She collected the black bill folders passively and pocketed her tips. Come spring, she'd have enough money to buy a kimono and go to the spring festivals in Ecruteak City to impress the boys there.

In spite of the pleasant thought, she suddenly thought about the redhead and his girlfriend—the one who had overheard her talking smack about her in the bathroom. She was a salty one, Kayla had realized a little late. In fact, she even looked vaguely familiar, along with that giant, fluffy Arcanine she had with her.

Kayla gathered the bill folder from that table—minus a tip, she noticed with a moment of self-pity. _She wasn't supposed to listen to our gossip anyway, _she thought with a sniff.

When she returned to the space behind the counter, her friend, Trini, a voluptuous girl seven years removed from her stab at a Pokémon journey, glanced up at her with a startled look in her eye. "Kayla," she said, striding over to her and grabbing her by the arm, "you want to know who we just insulted earlier?"

"A total hag?" Kayla asked, stuffing the billet folders into a drawer near the cash register.

"Yes, a total hag, but not just any hag—that was the Champion of the Johto region, Lyra Soul," Trini whispered, her eyes practically bugging.

Kayla felt her knees grow weak quite rapidly, and she planted a hand against the counter to keep herself from seemingly sinking. She forced a smile onto her face as she said, "So that's what the hot redhead found attractive about her. Money and power."

"It's really the guy we should hate, then?" Trini prompted, one corner of her mouth tipping up in something that was neither a grimace nor a smile.

Turning her nose up prudishly, Kayla replied, "Of course we should hate the guy. He's clearly a power-hungry man-wh**e." Chuckling, the pair wandered off to wipe down tables during the lull of activity. With the counter left abandoned, they didn't notice a disembodied shadow slinking across the floor, tracking a stench on the money. It slid up the counter, and a talon-fingered hand grew from it, rifling through the bill folders to find the money that smelled of the redheaded human and faintly of a Cursed one.

_Hmm. The young lady broke out of the nightmares quickly. She also moved quickly with her companion. This could be dangerous for our cause, _the "shadow" thought, and it absorbed some of this cash into its dark self. Before the girls could notice, this dark disturbance melded into the shadows around it and disappeared.

* * *

_A/N: ...I couldn't resist. I had to post this chapter before I went to bed! Man, I'll have all of my written chapters posted before long at this rate...I have a feeling that my next few updates really won't be so quickly. It took me a few months to write this much, but I was also in school during most of this and suffering from a case of writer's block that didn't even let me edit my stories-plus, I have two other fanfics going (an Alexandrianshipping fluff one and a Sequelshipping AU) and two original stories. Since this one is such a smash hit, I think my other two fanfics will take the backseat to this.  
_

_Anyway..._

_So this chapter was a bit of filler, but I felt like Lyra and Silver having a non-Glaceon-related conversation in some little cafe by the ocean would kind of flesh things out a little more (though, yes, at this point, they seem like they've forgotten three years spent apart suffering considerably, but at this point they're more worried about finding leads). Plus, the plot really picked up some speed on me! Crikey! Plus, it wasn't all filler! Someone-or something-realizes that Lyra and Silver are going to tear the world apart in search of Lyra's lost little Eeveelution. _

_I have over a hundred views now and in less than two days! This is totally crazy! Thank you so much, you guys! I appreciate the support! Thank you to JTC2000 for your review on my last chapter-and also to a guest reviewer. Your reviews were both very uplifting. You are both far too kind! ;A; _

_Please review! I thrive on feedback (both positive and negative) with writing! _


	8. Under the Peak

"I can see the mountain!" Silver heard Lyra call over the high keening of high-altitude winds. Following the direction of her pointing, he gazed down at a spectacularly tall mountain straddling the border between the Johto and the Kanto. Mt. Silver was impressive and stoic against the snowy fields around it; sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if Giovanni had named him Silver in the hopes of having an impressive, stoic son, just like the mountain.

He nodded, gazing down at the mountain. "Are we ready for it?"

"I'm always ready for it!" she shouted back. "I'm stocked for situations like this!"

_Fair enough, _Silver thought.

They flew over the Pokémon League, which Lyra didn't spare a single glance at. Silver realized she was well and truly done with the place for the time being—after all, she'd spent a little under half of her life either as Champion or fighting to regain her position as it. She was clearly fried. Within minutes of passing over the Pokémon League, they began to descend and then landed about a hundred yards from the base of the mountain and in front of the Pokémon Center. Lyra returned her Xatu, and Silver followed suit with his Crobat. "Silver, if you don't mind, I'm going to go rearrange my party of Pokémon a little in the center," she said.

"Meaning…?"

"I'm bringing out the bad boys: my original party." Her original party—the one she had defeated the Johto League with, consisted of her Typhlosion, Arcanine, and Xatu, plus the additions of Quagsire, Stantler, and a traded Steelix named Rocky. All of them were of a high level and possessed incredible skill; their reputation was as fearsome as the face of an angry Gyarados.

Silver and Lyra entered the Pokémon Center. The lights were dim and the place was practically empty, aside from the sleeping nurse—considering that she had pink hair, she had to be one of the many Nurse Joys that ran rampant in the Kanto and Johto—behind the counter. "Hello," Lyra called, gently stirring the nurse into wakefulness.

"Lyra!" she exclaimed, suddenly looking bashful as she eyed the girl. "I'm sorry, how long have you been here?"  
"We just got in, Joy," she said, pointing over her shoulder to Silver. The nurse's eyes travelled to him; he felt the shock in her gaze as she looked upon him. She knew that he and Lyra had spent no time together in the past few years due to that ugly night in Lavender Town, but she managed to keep it under control as Lyra padded over to the PC.

Joy eyed Silver and leaned forward on the counter, eyeing him with a gentle expression. "Hello, Silver. Long time, no see. You've certainly grown up in the past few years," she said.

"Yeah, that kind of happens between the ages of fourteen and seventeen," he replied, watching Lyra set two Pokeballs in the tray by the computer.

Scratching at her jaw thoughtfully, Joy asked, "What are you two doing here in the middle of winter? Red isn't on top of the mountain anymore."

Lyra visibly flinched at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, but she didn't remark upon Red's absence or her own reaction. Her voice calm, she answered, "We're looking for some Misdreavus."

"They don't come out until nightfall."

"We know that. But it's also easier to find them the higher up you go, and so if we climb up high during the day, chances are we'll find them much more easily at night."

Joy nodded at Lyra's logic. There was a general silence as Lyra belted her six Pokeballs and turned to them, a serious expression on her face. "Well, I'm prepared now, if you're ready to leave," Lyra said to Silver.

He nodded and zipped his jacket up. "Bye, Joy," he said, now nodding to the Nurse.

Lyra seemed surprised that he beat her to the punch and did the same. Joy sent them on their way, and they hustled out into the cold.

Silver glanced at Lyra as she flipped her hood up and zipped her jacket. With chestnut hair hanging out of the wide, she looked mysterious and a tad dangerous suddenly, even if her stature was unremarkable. She took out a Pokeball and released her Stantler. Upon seeing the Pokémon with her impressive antlers, Silver remembered battles where the crafty Pokémon used the strange things to confound his Pokémon and then stomp them to smithereens. Currently she was overjoyed to see her Trainer, rubbing her fat cheeks against Lyra and making quiet sounds of joy. "Yes, yes, I missed you, too. I love you," Lyra cooed, wrapping her arms around Stantler's neck.

Silver, suddenly feeling like he needed one of his own Pokémon by his side, released his Weavile, who immediately beamed at the snow around him. _At least someone around here likes winter, _he thought in amusement as he slashed snowflakes from the sky.

A few minutes passed while Lyra and Silver stood, watching the two Pokémon play in the snow. Stantler had a preference for chillier weather, though not quite like Weavile did, and happily chased the other type around in the shadow of the mountain. Silver sensed Lyra's tension, but she knew that if she moved too quickly and too frantically for too long, she'd do no good for her missing Glaceon, as she'd eventually burn herself out.

She broke the silence as he thought this. "Glaceon would love this," she murmured, ducking her head.

"I know," he said, surprised by the sympathy in his voice.

"It's just…I honestly have no freaking clue why someone targeted her, of all Pokémon. She was strong for her age, but not remarkably so. And I have so little to work off of to find her. Like Kuni said, she was spirited away. If Mt. Silver doesn't work out and we don't find any leads, I don't know what else we'd do. She literally disappeared into thin air," she breathed.

Silver wanted to hug her and say, "Hey, it's going to be fine." However, he didn't even know himself what was going on or how he would take care of the strange disappearance of one of his own Pokémon. So he looked at the moment purposefully and acknowledged, "Then let's get in there and figure out if we have leads."

Lyra looked up, her expression steely, and she nodded. "Right. Let's get moving. Come on, you two!" she called to the Pokémon. They ceased their game of tag and trotted back toward their Trainers. "We're going into Mt. Silver."

Head lowered as they passed into a new cavern, Stantler followed her human and the redhead with Weavile pacing slowly beside her. The inside of Mt. Silver was a network of tunnels and caves dug out by the Onix that lived within the mountain, making it much easier to traverse than climbing up its nearly sheer sides. Plus, the caves always held a steady temperature of fifty degrees or so; outside of the caves, it was seven degrees with a wind chill in the negatives. Stantler didn't mind the cold, but this moderate temperature suited her much more.

Weavile had filled her in about why they were at Mt. Silver and why Lyra had withdrawn her from the PC system. Though he talked about it in a fairly casual manner, Stantler could tell that Weavile was shaken by the Glaceon's behavior. "I mean, the kid's so cute. When I battled her at the Pokémon League this last time, she was just real silly. She didn't mean no harm. I can't believe how violent she got when she hit me with that Shadow Ball," Weavile said in his oddly gruff voice, rubbing the palm of his paw against his forehead.

Stantler sighed, stepping out of the path of a particularly low-hanging stalactite, and nodded in agreement. "I didn't know her too well. In the past year, I've maybe spent two weeks with Lyra because of all of the new Pokémon she's training. She still came and took me out every now and then, but she was focused on training some Pokémon from other regions," Stantler explained in her soft tones, "but yeah. Glaceon was a cute kid. She was so chatty and constantly asked questions—she thought we were the greatest, my allies and me."  
"You say that like she's dead or something," Weavile said, clicking his claws together with an obvious scowl.

Giving a slight shrug of her shoulders, Stantler retorted, "She could very well be. But she could very well be alive, too. Frankly, her state is a wild card that we should not guess at, especially since we know nothing."

Looking at her with incredulous red eyes, Weavile shook his head. "You'd make a great politician if you were a person," he growled.

"I'm not going to give an opinion on something I know very little about."

"What's it with you? You switch back and forth between being fun and a total drag like every three seconds," Weavile complained.

Stantler felt the strong urge to roll her eyes. Her companion clearly did not understand the gravity of the situation that they were in. "I'm not going to joke around when we're on a serious mission."

"If Lyra can have fun and flirt with my dumbass Trainer when I can smell her emotionally cracking right now, I think you can have a bit of fun," Weavile retorted.

She finally rolled her eyes. "Lyra's coping mechanism is being social. It's not flirtation."

"Say what you want, but you're just being stuck-up," Weavile said, elbowing her in the side. "Stuck-up and boring and political."

Their conversation ceased for a while. Stantler had gotten along better with the speedy Dark/Ice combination when he was shorter and didn't have a head fan decorating his dark skull. He was less egotistical and judgmental then. Silver and Lyra were talking quietly about possible theories concerning the disappearance of Glaceon and the Legendaries and the appearance of Dusknoir; clearly their conversation had taken a less social turn while Weavile and Stantler were arguing. In spite of the vile organization not being seen in a little over six years, Silver was convinced Team Rocket had something to do with it. He firmly believed that since his father wasn't dead, there was no way that Team Rocket would ever be completely done—Hell, it hadn't even stopped when Madame Boss, his grandmother and the founder of the organization, had died. Lyra's ideas bordered along the lines of vengeful Legendaries or possibly just a surge of volatile, misplaced Dusknoir that were seeking revenge for their removal from their homeland. _We don't really have enough to work by, _Stantler thought. _All of these ideas are so different and so out there—we need more evidence._

The group plodded on for an hour and a half, weaving in and out of the mountain to continue the ascent. Outside of the mountain, it was bitterly cold and icy; Silver and Lyra spent a lot of their time sliding into each other. The former would act grumpy—though he probably wasn't really feeling that unfriendly—whenever Lyra bumped into him, and the latter apologized profusely for being in Silver's way if he did the same to her. Along the way, they'd encountered multiple aggressive Ursarings (easily defeated by the dynamic power of Stantler and Weavile) and a few less combative Onix that rumbled down the mountainside. "What time is it?" Weavile asked, seemingly exhausted from the long climb and dazed in general. They were currently in one of the upper caverns of Mt. Silver, close to where Red would've sat sentinel over the Kanto and Johto for several years.

"It feels like six at night. The Misdreavus will begin to come out soon," Stantler answered, earning a dull nod from the other Pokémon. Time was something deeply imbedded in her antlers. She could sense many things and also confound her enemies with them. Since she was not a Psychic- or a Ghost-type, her sense wasn't extensive and she couldn't feel things at vast distances like they could, but it was enough that she could sense the dark disquiet in Lyra and the painstakingly hidden worry in Silver. Plus, she also felt a much-less volatile hunger in Weavile's belly. He needed to eat sometime soon.

Finally, Lyra stopped and turned to her Pokémon. She stroked her neck and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Stantler, I'm going to withdraw you now. It'll just be Silver and me, along with his Gengar," she murmured to her.

Stantler didn't mind. Weavile, being the eavesdropper he was while he was in his Pokeball, had filled her in on the importance of Gengar's position, though he hadn't actually been physically there to hear the formation of the plan. Meanwhile, Silver was giving the Pokémon the same talk. Simultaneously, Lyra and Silver pulled out Pokeballs and withdrew their Pokémon. Stantler was grateful for the comfortable quiet of her capsule that was unlike the painful silence of Mt. Silver, and curled up to go to sleep.

Gengar had been minding his own business plotting a few jump-scares when he was suddenly torn from the comfortable warmth of his Pokeball and into darkness of Mt. Silver. He was aware that it was Mt. Silver by the ridiculous amount of tension he could sense in the air. This was no place for the weak, after all.

He blinked bright red eyes, a tad irritated by the change of scenery. It was then that Lyra entered his field of vision, crouching down to his level. "Hi, Gengar. May I ask you for a favor?" she requested kindly.

"Eh, I s'pose," Gengar replied, swatting at a drip of water from a stalactite that fell onto one of his ears. Man, he hated getting wet.

Lyra gestured at the cavern around her. "We're here in Mt. Silver. I can't recall if you were out for this part of the earlier conversation, but there are Misdreavus here who are very good at sensing pain. We need to know if they understand what's going on in this region with the disappearances of some pretty important Pokémon, but they're probably not going to willingly talk to people, even if I can understand them for the time being."

"So you need me to talk to them, right?" Gengar asked, sounding bored.

Lyra nodded. "Yes. Of course. Will you do this to help the Legendaries and my Glaceon?"

Gengar felt irritated by question, but he also realized that it was Lyra asking him to do this. Silver's intense gaze was on him, telling him that he absolutely would do this for her, and it wasn't as if Gengar would refuse. Lyra had always put up with him and treated him well when others, his Trainer included, regarded him with a sense of fear. Plus, she was the reason he'd evolved. Of course he was going to help her. "Sure thing, sweetheart," he said.

Lyra cringed at his choice of words, but she gave a warm smile. To Gengar's surprise, she gave him a genuine hug. "Thank you. You're very kind."

"Ugh, stop touching me, woman," Gengar complained, but not without affection.

Silver glanced at Lyra as she straightened up, asking her, "He wasn't too difficult, I assume?"

"Tell him I'm not some human toddler who needs a babysitter," Gengar grumbled.

Lyra laughed a little and relayed this to Silver, who then shot a pointed glare in Gengar's direction. Suddenly serious, Lyra turned to Gengar and said, "Now, Silver and I are going to conceal ourselves in here somewhere, and you're going to talk to the Misdreavus when they show up. Be as casual about it as you can manage, considering that our only cover is going to be some rocks and a psychic wall thrown up by Xatu."

"Casual's my middle name," he said, shooting a grin at her. "Don't you worry about little old me with these screaming banshees, Lyra."

With this said, Lyra and Silver effectively vanished into an abandoned alcove in a cave, one that had clearly been a sleeping spot for an Ursaring at some point. Gengar, even with his excellent eyesight in the dark, had trouble picking out the humans from their hiding place. _If the Misdreavus aren't looking for them, they won't see them, _he decided. Lounging lazily against a cave wall, he waited for the little bastards to appear. Man, he hated that species of Pokémon. A Misdreavus was the bane of all ghosts, for they either played pranks so spiteful that humans and Pokémon were hurt, or they were so serious and gloom-and-doom that they were a drag to be around. Their personalities were extreme, fluctuating between both ends of the spectrum with an abandon typically seen in Growlithe puppies. Hopefully the conversations with the ghosts wouldn't take long. It wouldn't be good for his sanity.

Another thing that wasn't good for his sanity was the loud, rattling scream that filled the cave that would leave ice in the soul of an Entei. _F***ing Misdreavus, _Gengar thought angrily, massaging his temples.

"Oh my, what have we here?" crooned a young female voice. Further cursing out the screaming ghosts internally, he looked up to see a Misdreavus with a dirty yellow coloration. _A fricken Shiny, too. This one's going to be egotistical as all hell. _

Gengar forced his best smirk onto his face. "You have a Gengar, ma'am," he retorted.

Another Misdreavus appeared next to her, this one normally-colored and obviously male as he rumbled, "As if we didn't know that."

It took all of Gengar's willpower to not shoot his most powerful Shadow Ball at the little shitheads. All they'd really done so far was exist, and he still hated them. Stretching leisurely, Gengar said, "Man oh man, you guys have certainly got a nice cave here. High up, damp, right under the big, snowy peak…a ghost could do with a joint like this."

The Shiny Misdreavus shot him a coy smile. She must've understood his conversation starter as some sort of flirtation. "There are certainly better caves, but this one…it really tickles my gems, you know?" she said in a voice that was probably supposed to be seductive, flashing the gems at her throat. Was she ever a young one!

Raising one ghostly brow, Gengar stood up and planted his hands on his hips. "Oh, I'll bet it does. And since you're right between Kanto and Johto, I'll bet you can sense and feed on pain from both regions, am I right?" _Nice segue, _Gengar congratulated himself.

The male Misdreavus cut in, floating between his golden companion and the smirking ghost. He replied, "Yes. We can." The little guy was curt; he could sense that Gengar was up to something, but he didn't seem to know what.  
"And there's been some good pain as of late, too," the Shiny one purred, ducking underneath the male. "Some Legendaries have disappeared and caused some massive panic, did you know that? Raikou and Entei…Ho-oh…some say Lugia has, too," she added, batting her horribly startling eyes.

Gengar attempted to not grimace at this. He was well-aware of many of these disappearances from conversations he'd heard both inside and out of his Pokeball, but he hadn't heard about Lugia. Nothing—literally, nothing—could draw him from his cave in the Whirl Islands. Calamity was sure to follow if Lugia was actually gone from the cave and wasn't with Lyra or some other powerful Trainer of good disposition; the giant, silvery-feathered bastard could cause hurricanes with a single flap of his wings if he wasn't careful. Feigning an unwitting expression, Gengar inquired, "Oh, do we know why?"

"Dusknoir, my friend." All three ghosts flinched as a magnificent, violet-garbed ghost with haunted red eyes manifested from the darkness. This was a Mismagius, a gorgeous ghost that was a million times better than her pre-evolution. Plus, they weren't anywhere near as bipolar personality-wise. It was actually possible to respect one.

The Shiny Misdreavus groaned. "Ugh, Mom, ruin our gossiping much?" _Mom?_ With a faint jolt, Gengar realized that the two Misdreavus were siblings living a sheltered life in some cave high above the Johto and Kanto regions with their Mismagius mother, then. _That has to be really lonely. _

"I'm here to inform our guest of what's going on in the world, dear. Don't feed him gossip. Tell him the truth. Since you couldn't do that, I shall speak to this young Gengar on my own," the Mismagius scolded. As they muttered angrily, they slowly dissipated. Gengar exhaled a general sigh of relief as Mismagius gave a sigh of irritation.

Turning her eyes to Gengar, she cocked her head slightly. "There is some truth in what my children said. I can no longer sense the pain of Raikou and Entei, which weigh mightily in the atmosphere, and the extreme sadness of Ho-oh that still burdens him after hundreds of years." Here she looked to the ceiling, examining a stalactite with polite interest. "No one knows if Lugia is okay or not. My kind hasn't been able to sense him for years; he's so powerful that he even psychically conceals himself the majority of the time."

"You're really intelligent," Gengar blurted and then attempted to kick himself for. He was supposed to be looking for information, not gawking at some pretty dame with a good tongue in her mouth. Golly.

Mismagius gave a faint smile. "Thank you. Now, where did my children leave off…the Dusknoir?"

"Yeah."

"Dusknoir and their prior evolutions are very unusual in this region, as you know. Duskull are sometimes found here in the Safari Zone, but that is not from natural causes," she explained. She floated slowly down towards Gengar. "I can sense great stirrings on this land mass. Ones that are not pleasant, but I think you already knew that."

"Yeah, actually," Gengar answered. "I'm trying to track these 'great stirrings' down."

Mismagius glanced around and pulled closer to him. "The Hoenn is a swirl of horrid, black energy to the southwest. The pain is delectable, but it's so far away that my children and I cannot feed off of it," she whispered, and then sidled away from him. "They can't sense it like I can, my young ones. I don't tell them about these things."

Gengar found himself frowning deeply. He asked, "What's happening there?"

"Their ghosts have gone insane, and the Legendaries there have disappeared—but not just a couple of them. All of their Legendaries have. In general, people are highly frightened. Something ugly is happening there—I'll bet you it's the locus of it all," Mismagius said, eyes bright. Suddenly, Gengar realized he'd done something horrible and incredible for this lovely ghost all at once. Since she seemingly lived alone with her two children, she seemed desperate to talk to someone about something she wasn't willing to talk to her children about, and Gengar was playing off of that. Yet, at the same time, she was able to vent about this dark, immense thing she could sense but couldn't do a thing about with someone else.

Patting her shoulder fondly, Gengar said, "You say that like every region in a certain proximity is being affected." _Did I ever sound sharp there? _Gengar thought proudly, waiting for Mismagius's response.

After a moment's deliberation, she replied slowly, "Every region is out of balance in a sense, but it's the Johto and the Hoenn that are the most strongly affected. The Kanto is relatively peaceful, and I can't sense much discord in the Sinnoh." Regarding him with a strange expression, she asked, "How did you know to come find my kind in your hunt?"

"Common knowledge. You guys sense stuff like that," he said, though it had been Lyra's idea to even do this in the first place. Would she ever be interested to hear that this somehow all connected back to the Hoenn region! "So…if I were to go to Hoenn and investigate this…where would I go?"

"Mt. Pyre. The ghosts there will surely know something that I do not," she replied quickly, glancing about. "Please, just make this immense amount of pain stop. It weighs heavily upon me when I cannot tell my children about it and I can't feed off of it."

He gave her a serious nod. "An ally of mine, a young Glaceon, has disappeared because of the Dusknoir, you know."

Mismagius's head snapped up. Eyes suddenly filled with clarity, she swooped until there was no more than a few inches between her face and Gengar's and said, "The Dusknoir are thieving, you say?"

"Yeah, which is pretty fricken weird," Gengar replied, unable to do anything but stare into her crazed eyes filled with a realization.

She stared at him and harshly whispered, "This means that Giratina has either disappeared…or is attempting to get revenge once more"

Ah. Giratina. Just the ghostly, dragon-y Pokémon god of antimatter and also patron of Ghost Pokémon in general. No big deal. It only so happened that the last time he was allowed on Earth he murdered thousands of people and Pokémon merely because he was displeased with them and bored. No, no big deal at all. There was a reason he was kept in the Distortion World. He looked at Misdreavus. "What made you come to that conclusion?"

"Many Dusknoir directly worship and honor Giratina," she replied feverishly. "Because they are looked at with more fear than the average ghost, Dusknoir find solace in Giratina's ferocity and pledge themselves directly to him many times. Giratina aside, they are a very strange breed of ghost. They're sometimes known as the Grim Reapers, taking spirits of the dead into the afterlife. Other times, they merely communicate with the dead. The point is, since they have both abilities, they're quite formidable as opponents. If Giratina is gone or violent, they're not going to be placid. Or, if he's ordered them to do things they are not meant to do, they're going to be as ruthless as the god they worship."

"So…as I go to the Hoenn, I assume you want me to ask about Giratina," Gengar said.

Mismagius gave a nod. Peeling away from Gengar, she whispered, "That's all I know. I must leave now. My children are sure to be causing trouble, and I will not leave them to their own devices." Before he could stop her, the Mismagius began to vanish, fading in with the dark of the cave. "Though I must feed on pain, I don't enjoy the unnecessary suffering of everyone else. Take care of this." Her eyes were the last to dissipate, glaring yellow and crimson against the dark of the cave. Gengar sat digesting what he had heard upon her disappearance. _Giratina. _Back when he was a young Gastly in the wild, he possessed an intense fear and dislike of the phantasmal dragon. Yet, as he'd grown older under Silver's oftentimes brutal care, he grasped that reality was majorly worse than stories of old. If his Trainer was verbally abusive and cruel when Gengar didn't do as well as what was wanted of him, then there was no point worrying about things he'd never seen. He just needed to survive and be the best he could be. Hell, he didn't even believe in Giratina for a long time. When Silver became a kinder individual, Gengar still held true that he couldn't let fear of something that had little sway over the real world affect his life, and that everything he'd felt when he was young and wild was pure superstition. Now, with the mention of Giratina once more, he wasn't so sure. He felt old fear eating at him, telling him to cower at the beast's feet. But no. He wouldn't do that. He'd faced up to humans far more horrible than that imprisoned (or possibly not imprisoned) asshole of a god and dealt with a Trainer who had once scared him far more than his own illogical fears ever had. Gengar was strong. Going to the Hoenn would be a piece of cake. _I am strong. I didn't even believe in you for a while. Whatever's going on, if it's your fault, you're going down, Giratina. Besides, you also messed with the wrong pair of Trainers._

Also, it was then that he realized Lugia was possibly missing as well, but since there wasn't any concrete evidence there, Gengar decided he'd worry more about the fact that the dark god of ghosts was either entirely gone himself or causing problems.

"Gotta tell those two," he muttered to himself, feeling rather like a Steelix with an iron hide and diamond-sharp eyes. "They'll like to hear this."

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to today's episode of: "This is the last of the chapters I had pre-written for publishing!" Of course, if this was a true TV show, there'd be proper capitalization and the like..._

_Yep, I did. I mentioned Giratina and Hoenn all in one tale of problematic Trainers from the Johto. It's like peanut butter and marshmallow fluff; an odd combination that, until you try it, seems like it shouldn't work. But you'll learn where this is going soon enough..._

_I know this is a game-verse story, but I brought in Nurse Joy (mostly so I could make the quip about how they run rampant in the Kanto and Johto) and also the mention of Madame Boss. If you don't know who she is, she's Giovanni's mother and a former leader of Team Rocket. In this story I've designated her to be the founder of the organization, although I don't know if that's really the case with her or not. I guess she was in the anime at some point and there was also a CD drama with her, but I'm kind of fascinated with this idea of a tough female leader of a pretty tough organization, so I figured I should pay her some homage, even if I only get to mention her in passing._

_I really like Silver's Gengar, okay? And the Pokemon Gengar in general. Since he's a ghost and this story revolves around ghosts, well, it didn't take me long to start giving him a bigger part in the plot._

_If things seem like they're going relatively well on Silver and Lyra's quest so far...you just wait. Getting started with something is usually the easiest part, right? (Unless it's something like cleaning your room, because I really do believe that getting started with cleaning is the hardest part. After you get into it, you just kind of do it.)  
_

_Please review! Even if I'm getting more reviews now, I just like to see what everyone thinks about this story. I've been working really hard to make it a worthwhile fanfic!_


	9. Void In The Moon

_I realized that since this is fanfiction, I have to do a disclaimer. Shows how much of a newbie I am with all this!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters, but if I did, the Fairy-type Gym Leader in X and Y would probably be like a hybrid of Jorgen Von Strangle from Fairly Odd Parents and the Fairy King Oberon from A Midsummer's Night Dream (Google him. I dare you)  
_

* * *

"Giratina. Hoenn. Unbalance. Wow," Lyra whispered.

Silver, sitting and totally unaware of what Gengar was explaining to Lyra, was desperate to ask for an explanation for the four words Lyra had just stated, but she seemed enraptured and disturbed by Gengar's words. Frowning, she questioned, "A truly evil Pokémon?"

_What? Come on! Tell me something here! _Silver though, gritting his teeth to keep himself from yelling.

Gengar had been talking to Lyra for fifteen minutes at this point, his expression unnaturally serious. Clearly he'd found out more than what they'd imagined—and probably things that they had never even guessed in the first place. Lyra would nod on occasion and ask a clarifying question, but otherwise she was silent as she listened to Silver's Pokémon. With each word that Silver didn't understand, Lyra's expression grew grimmer. _I can't imagine there's anything pleasant coming out of his mouth, _Silver thought.

Finally, Lyra rocked back on her heels and turned to Silver, her expression hollow. "Silver. If we're going to look for the Dusknoir, we can't look in this region at all. We have to go straight to the source."

"Where, then?" he asked, frowning.

She sighed shakily and zipped up her jacket. "Mt. Pyre in the Hoenn. We're going to the Hoenn."

* * *

"So…I don't even know what a Giratina is," Silver admitted as they sat wrapped in blankets at the top of Mt. Silver. They had returned their Pokémon to talk alone about what Gengar had gleaned from the Misdreavus siblings and their mother. Despite the bitter wind and swirling snow, the night was clear and every single star seemed about twice its usual size due to the thin air.

"It's not _a_ Giratina. There's only one. It's _the _Giratina. It's part of the Creation Trio, the dragons who control time, space, and antimatter." Lyra fished a book and a flashlight from her bag expertly, in spite of the darkness, and scooted closer to Silver. Flicking on the flashlight, she showed him the cover of the book. It was a beaten-up little volume that looked to be at least as old as the girl holding it, but it was probably even older than that. Illustrated with two strange dragons in an old-fashioned wood-block style, Silver thought it was a very mysterious-looking tome. "A Trainer from the Sinnoh region gave me this book when she realized I didn't know about a lot of Pokémon outside of this region," she admitted. She flipped through the pages until it showed a ragged, thick-bodied dragon with glowing red eyes and a look of sheer rage on its face.

Silver gazed at it, unnerved by its appearance. It looked like it wouldn't bat an eye about killing other living things. "That's our culprit?" he asked, surprised by the slight tremor in his voice. He wasn't supposed to be scared of a stupid picture.

"Gengar says that the Dusknoir hold a strange allegiance to it. If Glaceon was abducted by Dusknoir, there's a huge change that they did it for some purpose of Giratina's," she said, and now it was her voice that seemed to tremble.

Silver sighed. He wrapped the blanket he'd borrowed from Lyra more tightly around himself as he thought. "Why are we going to the Hoenn?"

"The Mismagius sensed the greatest disturbance there. Plus, the Duskull line is found there naturally, anyway, so our best bet is to go there, if we want to find Glaceon." She closed the book and shoved it back in her bag. "We'll find her, Silver. I know it."

"What if she's still in this region?" Silver asked, feeling as though he was being dragged into a wild Farfetch'd chase. Believing in a Mismagius that had no affiliation to Lyra, Gengar, or himself was something of an issue. "I know you're desperate to find her and take up any lead you can get, but what if we go there and we find absolutely nothing? What if she's still here?"

"I…" Lyra pressed a hand to her chest, frowning. "I don't feel it."

"Lyra, it's gotta be more than just some _feeling_—"

"Silver." She looked at him with serious eyes, the glow of the flashlight illuminating her face with harsh, inhuman angles that he knew didn't exist in her face like that. "I always feel it. I know if I'm doing the right thing or not for my Pokémon. Staying here and wandering aimlessly for clues is wrong. We need to go to the Hoenn somehow."

"A boat ride there takes about seven days," Silver warned her, remembering the shady trips his father took to that region. "We could just as easily search this whole region in that time."

She sighed and rested her forehead against her knees. Nodding silently, Lyra seemed to crumble a little. Silver felt a bite of sadness seeing her like this; never had she seemed so weak. Before he could stop himself, he freed one of his arms and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Hey. Look. We'll get there. And then you can kick the ass of whoever's responsible, okay?"

Lyra seemed startled at first, but she leaned into his one-armed embrace, eyes closed. "Okay," she murmured, "but right now…I'm really cold and tired, and I can't think."

"Come on, then. Don't fall asleep up here, you idiot. Let's go down to the Pokémon Center and sleep for the night. Then we can discuss travel plans in the morning," Silver suggested, releasing her from the awkward embrace he'd just given her. _Dammit. Can't be an asshole, but I can't be this nice to her, either, or she'll be onto me in two seconds flat._

Lyra looked at him and nodded. Without another word spoken, the two released their Flying-type Pokémon and began their descent to the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Dressed in all black like a dishonorable burglar, Kuni slipped through the silent darkness of Ecruteak City and toward the Burned Tower.

_I wonder if Kris and Suicune sense what's going on here. They only come to civilization at night these days, and they tend to come to Ecruteak only, _Kuni had realized earlier. Besides, aside from Morty, there wasn't a better idea than attempting to track down Lyra's blue-haired cousin if it would help her understand what was going on. Since Kris had essentially travelled the world with Suicune, she would know what's going on elsewhere. Plus, if Entei and Raikou were in trouble, the other member of their trio would surely come home to search for her missing friends, and as quickly as possible at that. The three Legendaries were linked in ways a mere human couldn't comprehend. Plus, with Morty being such a jerk, she figured she could only take matters into her own hands if Lyra and Silver were going to gallivant off to Arceus-knows-where.

She entered the Burned Tower silently, not without bowing respectfully to it first. People and Pokémon had died when the once-grand building had burned down; she felt like it was necessary to treat the place with dignity. Once inside, she stood gingerly on the rickety floor. Sometimes Kuni couldn't help but wonder why the place was still open to the public. Gingerly padding through the ruins, her dark boots hardly made a sound. Her dancer's grace was certainly a blessing; she didn't want to disturb the oftentimes unpleasant Pokémon sleeping in the rickety skeleton of the building.

A few minutes later, she was on the second floor, gazing at the dirt mound that the three Pokémon Ho-oh had revived once slept. Kuni noted that it was still painfully empty, and only one member of the trio was accounted for. _Raikou and Entei need to show themselves ASAP, or people are going to start asking questions when they come into this building. And I had no freaking clue how to answer a single question they ask without revealing that some weird crap is going on, _she thought. Crouching down on the floor, she waited with the hopes that Kris would show up.

Kris was a long shot, she'd admit that much. There was no guarantee that she and Suicune would show up at all, and if they did, it might not even be tonight. Yet, after Kuni had attempted to call Morty four times this afternoon and left two less-than-polite messages for him and one lengthy one informing him of what had happened to Lyra and her Glaceon, she figured it was more likely to get in contact with someone who'd maybe set foot in the Johto twice in five years, as ironic as it seemed.

The night crept on slowly. Kuni figured she'd been crouched there for at least half an hour as she listened to the movements of the ghosts around her. At least the ghosts didn't bother her anymore; she'd been such a permanent fixture in this place since she was ten years old and first learning the dances of a kimono girl. They were sad beings, the ones in this place. Each and every one of them was literally the spirit of a dead Pokémon, making them some of the few ghosts in the Johto that had been born that way these days. Most ghost Pokémon were now the descendants of dead spirits as opposed to, say, a Voltorb that died, hadn't been properly laid to rest, and then rose again as a Gastly. She was grateful for that. The sad ghosts fogged the air with an aura of hopelessness and despair.

"Looking for someone?" came a husky female voice. Kuni whipped her head around to look over her shoulder and noticed none other than Kris standing a bit haphazardly in a handy shaft of moonlight. Suicune stood next to her, dissecting Kuni with intelligent eyes. Kuni noted that both looked dreadful and ragged, like the hobos and their Pokémon that she sometimes came across in Goldenrod City.

Kuni stood, dusting off her clothing. "Didn't even hear you two come in," she admitted.

Shrugging, Kris threw her arm over Suicune's back, supporting herself against the graceful Pokémon's side. Her hair hung in a lank ponytail over one shoulder, not in its usually flipping pigtails, and she'd exchanged her usual outfit of biking shorts combined with some kind of jacket and muscle shirt for a heavy-duty camouflage coat, cargo pants, and combat boots. Both of her hands were wrapped in bloody bandages; the kimono-girl-turned-detective figured they crawled further up her arms. There were scars on her face and neck that only seemed about half-healed. In short, she looked like she'd gotten into a fistfight with a Scyther and lost horribly. In spite of her shabby condition, Kris shot Kuni a depraved grin. "Eh, we're a wily pair, Suicune and I," she said, her voice rasping against her throat. It was likely that she hadn't spoken aloud in ages until now, but she still held the buzz and cadences of a country girl.

Kuni smiled back…and then remembered that she was here to figure out what Kris knew, not to socialize. Folding her arms against her stomach and shifting her weight foot to foot, Kuni asked, "Why are you here? I mean, I'm glad you're here, but what's your reason for showing up?"

"Suicune got the feeling that Entei and Raikou ran off in a way that's not real normal for them," Kris murmured, her voice tinny and almost distant in the dark expanses of the Burned Tower's basement. Kuni mentally cheered at her correct guess. "We discovered these ruins a ways off called the Sinjoh Ruins, and we didn't even get to look around properly before Suicune made us take off to the Hoenn and then back here. We're gonna start looking for those two, and we're gonna start here and hopefully trace their steps. How long have they been gone?"

"Just a few days," Kuni responded. Glancing at the rocky, dusty mound the trio once slept on, she felt a lump in her throat. Though her presence had never stirred them, she found comfort in their stately shapes, especially when she had first moved to this antiquated little city.

Kris followed her gaze and grimaced at the empty sight. "Things ain't great 'round these parts, I reckon," she said.

"No. Not at all. These Pokémon called Dusknoir are stealing people's Pokémon," Kuni explained.

Kris's stance went stiff at the mention of Dusknoir. "You mean…it's happening here, too?" she whispered.

_So it isn't just the Johto experiencing this. I'm going to have to fill Lyra in on this. _"What do you mean it's happening here, too? I thought it was just this region."

Shaking her head, Kris paced forward. "Oh, Kuni, let me tell you a thing or two. There's something going on in the Hoenn that you should definitely know about…"

* * *

"Lyra, we're almost at the Pokémon Center."

"Mhm."

Circling above the red-roofed building on their flying Pokémon, Silver found himself glancing over at Lyra…and couldn't help but smile a little at her. She clung to Xatu , but she was all but sprawled out on her with her arms loosely linked around her Pokémon's neck. Before he spoke to her again, Silver made sure he felt tough and not at all amused by Lyra dozing off like that. "Come on. We're going to go get some rooms," he stated as Lyra looking up at him, most likely bleary-eyed in the darkness.

She sighed sleepily. "Sounds good."

They landed just outside of the Pokémon Center doors. Bathed in the warm glow of the lights inside, Silver felt like they'd managed to have a fairly safe day after the fiasco that yesterday had presented. Silver returned his Crobat, but he noticed Lyra and Xatu gazing at each other in a peculiar way. Lyra made peculiar facial expressions as Xatu seemed to convey something mentally to her. The light from the doorway was enough to show the red that suddenly stained Lyra's cheeks. "That's enough from you!" Lyra yelped suddenly, returning her Xatu to her Pokeball.

"What was that about?" Silver asked indifferently enough, leaning against the door frame.

She gave him a guarded sort of look that startled him. Back before the incident three years ago, it was a look that wouldn't have belonged on her face ever. "It's a private conversation," she said quietly, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Gee, sorry," Silver muttered as Lyra let herself into the Pokémon Center. For a minute and a half or so, he stood out in the snow to think. Lyra's actions were the equivalent of an evil eye and then a shredding of his character coming from her. _What were they talking about that got such a rise out of her when she's half-asleep that she can't tell me about? _Silver wondered. _Like, honestly, what the hell is it with girls doing that, anyway? Knowing her and that Xatu, it couldn't have been that bad, though. _

He followed her inside, frowning as he brushed the snow from his shoulders. _I don't think we're all right yet, Lyra and I, _he thought to himself as he rented a room from Nurse Joy. Lyra had gone into the rooms in back long before he'd even set foot in the Center.

As Silver started heading back to the room he rented, Nurse Joy quietly called, "Silver. Come back here a second."

Silver walked back to the counter, feeling almost as bleary-eyed as Lyra, and folded his arms. "What?" he inquired brusquely.

"I'm worried about that girl. If you two are travelling together for a while, keep an eye on her. She looks really feverish, and she wouldn't tell me if she's feeling sick or not," Nurse Joy said, wringing her hands.

Silver stared at his boot-clad feet, not certain of how to respond to her. He knew that she was sick and that someone had to make sure that she didn't get worse, but Lyra seemed dead-set on not letting anyone else know if she was feeling sick. "Yeah, I'm worried, too. I don't know if she'll let me watch out for her, though," he admitted a little shamefacedly. Realizing how weak that sounded, he added in bored tones, "I mean, I need to watch out for her so that no one else gets to cream her before I do." _Well, that sounds about seven times worse. Good job, dumbass._

Nurse Joy gave him a look that said she knew he was worried about her for reasons other than someone else getting to deal her a harsh defeat before he did. "Right. Why don't you head along to bed now? I can heal your Pokémon overnight, if you'd like?"

Silver handed his Pokeballs to her and stumped off toward his rented room. As he closed the door, he didn't notice that Lyra's door had been open just a crack. One hazel eye peered out, the owner of said eye wondering if she'd merely misheard Silver say that he was worried about her. Lyra shut the door silently; Silver would have no idea that she'd heard what he'd told Nurse Joy.

Not long after this, the Pokémon Center went dark for the night as the two young Trainers and Nurse Joy turned in for the night.

* * *

Kris and Kuni settled down in the patch of moonlight to talk. With her back resting against Suicune, who had somehow fallen asleep sitting up, Lyra's cousin looked half-asleep herself, but her intense, ice-blue eyes burned bright from under half-hooded lids. She smoothed her askew blue bangs and began to talk as Kuni settled herself into a cross-legged sit.

"The Hoenn is a real different region from this one, Kuni," Kris started, examining her bandaged hands. "First time I went there, I thought I was gonna die in the heat. It's real hot all the time, like summer. The warmest weather you get around here is in Olivine City in the summer. But Hoenn blows that out of the water. Slateport City there can reach 110 degrees in the summer, easy. Anyway, it's this gorgeous, real tropical sort of region. The sort of place where stuff shouldn't go wrong."

"So…what's wrong there?" Kuni asked gently. Kris was very much a rambler who loved to describe things in often exaggerated detail with as many words as she could manage. It was still so strange to Kuni that Kris traveled with Suicune, a Pokemon that rarely did anything that even vaguely resembled a social interaction.

"You ever heard of a Pokémon called Dusknoir?" Kris responded, glaring off into the darkness at a young Gastly that hovered nearby.

Kuni sighed heavily. "Yes, actually. Your cousin is currently tracking those shitheads down. They stole her Glaceon."

Kris's attention snapped back to Kuni. Her expression was dark; clearly this wasn't something she'd expected to hear, and it wasn't a much worse something than Kuni had expected. "Oh, Arceus, That ain't good. That really ain't good," she whispered, her countryside accent buzzing fiercely in her state of agitation.

"How's that not good? Okay, like she's been stolen from Lyra, but what makes this worse than, say, Team Rocket ripping off someone's Pikachu?" Kuni asked, leaning forward, intent on Kris's answer.

She stroked Suicune's mane a little too fiercely, gazing intently into space as she replied, "In Hoenn, the Dusknoir started appearing about a month and a half ago—"

_Let me show her. _Both girls started at the sound of Suicune's voice. The Legendary was very quiet, even with Kris, and she rarely spoke to humans aside from her companion if she could help it. _I may not be a Psychic-type, Kuni, but I can share with you a memory that will explain this better than any words could._

Before Kuni could agree, it felt like a series of hooks had latched into her mind and tore her free of her willpower. This strange sensation sucked her into a an even stranger place of darkness and an intensely humid heat, where an ocean wind smelled of salt…

_…and the mountain that loomed out of the ocean in the distance was lit brilliantly against a full moon. It was like a scene from an illustrated fairy tale, with the huge moon situated directly behind the mountain's peak._

_ Suicune gazed at Mt. Pyre, the Pokémon graveyard of the Hoenn. The bodies of thousands of beloved friends and partners had been laid to rest in various levels of the mountain, making the place reek of death and grief in an even worse way than the Hall of Memories did in the Kanto. Kris stood next to her, arms crossed. "Well? What're we doing here?" she asked. It'd been three days since she had spoken aloud, and her voice crackled and whispered in Suicune's sensitive ears. She needed to make a point to speak more, even if Suicune didn't necessarily feel the need to reply to her human companion._

This is a place that I sense that something impure will happen, _Suicune explained to Kris, _and you know me. I cannot sit idly while a place is defiled.

_"I thought your issue was polluted water," Kris responded snidely, pushing against her shoulder playfully._

_ Before Suicune could respond, a loud, tremulous noise filled the air, rattling her eardrums and forcing Kris to grit her teeth against the noise. They watched as a void opened against the light of the moon. "What in all hell is that?" Kris whispered, and Suicune was only just able to catch it against the roar of sound that accompanied this void. A hot wind suddenly forced itself across the landscape, nearly shoving Kris from her standing position, and it took Suicune all of the willpower she had to not shut her eyes against it._

_ As abruptly as it had come the wind quit. Everything was still…too still for Suicune's liking. The void sat near the moon, unwavering. She gazed at her surroundings with a watchful eye. _Kris, I am going to ask you to keep your guard up, _Suicune requested, her mane bristling at the unnatural stillness._

_ "Don't have to ask me twice," Kris muttered, rubbing at her eyes in a mixture of irritation and bewilderment._

_ It was then that Suicune heard the doleful cry of one of the strange, sock-puppet ghosts called Shuppet. She turned to see the Pokémon flying toward the void, a strange, luminescent red sheen filling its eyes. "Suicune, sui!" she called aloud, hoping to shock the Pokémon with their shared language, but Shuppet did not seem to notice. _

_ "Hey! What're you doing flying toward that?" Kris yelled gruffly after the Shuppet, but not even her startling voice put a dent in the Pokémon's attitude._

_ The Shuppet was no more than twenty feet from them when his body began to convulse. His cloth-like body rippled and wavered in the moonlight, but he didn't make any sounds showing possible discomfort. Though the moonlight made it difficult to discern colors, Suicune noticed that he was beginning to change from a grayish color to jet-black. As soon as the color change reached his head, the Shuppet let out a piercing cry of pain and anger. Whirling on Suicune and Kris, the formerly cute ghost showed itself to be something of a miniature monster now. His eyes glowed pure crimson without discernible irises or pupils, and his small mouth had opened to reveal rows of deadly, half-rotted looking teeth. _

_ Kris was not a squeamish girl, but she let out a scream at the sight of the Shuppet's face. Suicune moved defensively toward her Trainer as she began to notice a trend around her: all of the ghosts from around and inside of Mt. Pyre were undergoing a similar change. A young Duskull nearby sprouted crimson fangs to match its blazing red eye behind a skull mask that had suddenly cracked and deteriorated into a plate of warped bones. While she and Kris had been enraptured by Shuppet's transformation, thousands of other ghosts had also fluttered toward the void in front of the moon. Their piercing shrieks filled the air like the scent of a salty ocean. _

Get on my back. Now. We need to escape this, _Suicune warned Kris._

_ Before her friend could comply, the Shuppet swooped at Kris, teeth bared. Letting loose a terrified shriek, she ducked away from its attack. _Try that again. I dare you, _Suicune threatened Shuppet in the human language while unleashing a powerful Hydro Pump. The attack rumbled and sputtered through her belly and plowed viciously into the bloodthirsty ghost._

_ "Shuuup!" The Shuppet screamed, steaming where the water had hit his body. Kris took its distraction as an opportunity to leap on Suicune's back. As soon as she was sure that her friend was settled safely on her back, she bounded toward the water. _If water hurts them, I think that running across this water should be a good deterrent, _she thought._

_ Suicune glanced at the skies above her, watching the angry, crimson-eyed ghosts swoop and flutter through the night sky, screaming fiercely at each other. Beyond them sat the strange void. With a painful jolt, Suicune realized that strange, red-tipped black tentacles were clustered around the void's edge, and a huge pair of similarly-glowing eyes stared down at Suicune and Kris with the wrath of Arceus in its eyes. Circling the void was a plethora of the strange Pokémon known as Dusknoir. Unlike the other ghosts, they were not changed, for they were not the ones bellowing and shrieking at the sudden transformation that they had just undertaken. Suicune realized that the tentacled, red-eyed beast within the void had probably struck a bargain with the Dusknoir if they weren't suffering like the others. In fact…the Dusknoir almost seemed to enjoy the suffering around them. Some of them forcefully held Pokémon other than ghosts in their arms, such as a trio of Zubat and a duo young-looking Lotad. The latter species didn't even live nearby! Even though the young Pokemon struggled at first, they, too, turned into the beasts that surrounded them, and Suicune could only wonder why and how._

What in the world have we just encountered? _Suicune wondered to herself, racing toward what she hoped was the relative safety of the lights of Lilycove City. With Kris clinging to her mane for dear life, she raced away to protect her friend.  
_

Kuni regained her senses. "Oh…oh, Arceus," she muttered to herself, pressing her gloved hands to her face in shock.

Suicune sat back on her haunches, clearly done explaining, while Kris waited for Kuni to catch her breath. Around a minute and a half later, the blue-haired Trainer gave a sigh and said, "We reckon the Dusknoir are working for that thing in the void with the red-tipped tentacles. They're turning the ghosts they find into those beasts. But that's not all."

"Oh, you mean there's more?" Kuni asked darkly, massaging her temples. What more could there be to the unsettling chaos she'd just witnessed?

Kris grimly gazed up into the moonlight. It made her look like some sort of ancient warrior, especially with the scars on her face and the bandages on her hands. "It's not just ghosts that they're doing that to. They'll do it to any Pokémon that knows a Ghost-type move. The Vulpix on Mt. Pyre all got turned into these little evil beasts that spew toxic smoke and burning hot flames," she explained. "So…if Lyra's Pokémon got stolen and she knows a Ghost-type move…she's not really her Pokémon anymore. Chances are she's some vile beast right now."

Kuni felt a wave of nausea wash over her at the thought. _Oh, Arceus. That is so awful. _"Kris…" she started, and then found herself about ready to retch. Swallowing, she tried again. "Kris…her Glaceon knows Shadow Ball."

"Dammit," Kris muttered, drawing her knees to her chest. "This ain't good. Is she trying to track that Pokémon down? 'Cause she probably shouldn't. That Glaceon wouldn't be in this region anymore, I can tell you that. It's Hoenn that all those Pokémon are taken to so they can get turned into those beasts. The Void's open only there; no other region Suicune and I went to had Pokémon turning into those beasts. If Lyra went to the Hoenn, I don't know that she'd be able to handle the crazy shit that's going on…or her Glaceon turning into a beast."

Kuni stood. Lyra needed to hear what she had just learned about the Hoenn and also the fate of her Glaceon. Glancing down at Kris, she commanded, "You should go get yourself taken care of before you go looking for Entei and Raikou. You look pretty damned rough there, you know."

"What are you gonna do?" Kris asked, eyes half-closed with exhaustion.

"Lyra is hunting down her Glaceon. She needs to know what you just told me so that she has an idea of what she's getting into," Kuni said. _Plus, I'm going to relay this to Morty. I have no freaking clue what he knows, but hopefully the idiot listens to my voicemails. _Giving her blue-haired friend a quick goodbye, Kuni clambered out of the basement of the Burned Tower and sprinted toward home, where her Pokegear sat waiting.

When she got to her room, she noted with some surprise that there were now three missed calls and a voicemail on her Pokegear from Morty, surprisingly, but considering that she thought of Lyra as one of her best friends, she figured she should inform the former Champion of exactly what she was getting into. Dialing Lyra's number, she waited for her friend to pick up.

* * *

_A/N: I finished this chapter before I went to a vocal lesson this morning, so I figured I wouldn't delay in posting it! Also, I'm changing how my breaks go in this. They're not saving like they should anymore, and I apologize for that. So now I'll just do the line across or something along those lines, I guess. By the way, does anyone even read my rambling author's notes? I mean, I just kind of do them to show I'm not some morbidly serious person since this is a pretty morbidly serious story...  
_

_Anyway! I'm having so much fun writing and editing/revising this and seeing such good feedback from you guys! It makes me really happy to know that my first serious effort at a fanfic is going over well with my readers...but now we're into uncharted territory. Everything I've written prior to publishing is finished, so updates are going to slow down by a bit since I'm actually going to be writing everything from scratch, but I'll try to keep them as frequent as possible.  
_

_So, I guess I don't have a lot of comments about this chapter or about anything coming up. One thing, though, is that I hope you're beginning to notice things are a little weird between Silver and Lyra. I mean, there's just a hint of it right now, but, like the brilliant readers you are, you knew it wasn't going to be perfectly smooth sailing even with Kuni's little intervention._

_I'm actually starting to like Kuni a lot, too. When I first started this, I really didn't like her much and was attempting to make that clear for her non-kimono girl persona, but I kind of like that she's becoming this character who can really get down to business. *cue intro of "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Mulan*_

_In this story, I have made Kris and Lyra cousins of the same age (if the reference sheet I made is correct, their birthdays are really close together, too). I just think that their designs are similar enough that they could possibly be related in the games, even if Kris never shows up after Crystal Version. So...Kris is related to Lyra on her mom's side, and I picture her living out by Tohjo Falls with her parents as a child and then heading out on her adventure from Newbark Town at the same time Lyra does. I'm sorry if you don't like her being a country girl. I just felt like it was a good way to separate Lyra's and Kris's personalities and syntax. _

_I'd like to thank StellaMuffins, JTC2000, Shin H. Vega, a guest reviewer, and ImaginationIsAwesome123 for your kind (and some of you have posted multiple) reviews. You guys can really make my day with the level of interest you're showing in this story! You're all fabulous!_

_Please review! I don't care if all you have to say is "Great story" or "Wtf happened there" or anything like that. I just like to know what y'all are thinking of what I'm doing._


	10. House of Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters, but if I did, Misty's design in HGSS would not have been so massively altered from its original form.

* * *

Under the shadow of Mt. Silver, Lyra slept fitfully in her bed at the Pokémon Center, rolling to and fro on the mattress, frowning and mumbling in her sleep at the mixture of nightmares and strange, warm dreams that she would likely not remember in the morning. In spite of this chaotic sort of sleep where nothing felt particularly deep, Lyra missed it as her Pokegear jangled quietly on the nightstand, since Lyra had forgotten to turn it off before she went to bed that night, alerting her to Kuni's attempt to call her. When it went to voicemail, the phone did the same thing again, but Lyra was out of it. Kuni was not going to get through to her friend that night.

* * *

_When things went awry three years ago, it had been late February and unseasonably warm for the Kanto region. During the day it had been sunny and close to fifty degrees, although it wasn't enough to melt the heavy cover of snow that blanketed the ground. In spite of the snow, it had been perfect travelling weather before it started raining._

_Silver had been impatiently waiting for Lyra quite a while. She'd received notice of a swarm of the Pokémon Relicanth, a rocky-looking bottom dweller normally found in the Hoenn, and she was desperately trying to reel one in with a Super Rod. Silver, of course, had absolutely no patience for this and tried hurrying her off of Silence Bridge for the past hour and a half. It was to no avail. After all, Silver felt mortified at the Gyarados and Seaking that she tossed back in favor of some grimy swimmer."Oh for f***'s sake, Lyra!" he snapped. "Why do you want one of those ugly dumbasses so much anyway?"_

_Lyra glanced back at Silver and beamed at him. "It's such a cool Pokémon! Did you know it hasn't changed in over 100 million years?" Before Silver could hurl further abuse at the Pokémon, she gasped. "Wait! I have something on the line!"_

_After a minute-long fight, Lyra reeled in the ugliest Pokémon Silver had ever observed. Yes, it was definitely a Relicanth, but it seemed so much uglier in person than it had when Lyra had showed him an image of it in a book of prehistoric Pokémon that she carried with her. Before Silver could remark on it, Lyra knelt by it and tapped it with a Lure Ball that Kurt had made for her. Without much struggled, it was captured. "Yes! I got one! It's a male!" Lyra squealed, standing up so quickly that her trademark marshmallow cap fell off her head. She took her Pokedex from her bag and set the Lure Ball on it. It turned into streams of data as the Relicanth was transferred to the PC system. "I've officially owned 100 different species Pokémon now," Lyra murmured._

_Silver didn't have the time to be impressed. He started to roll his eyes at her…and noticed dark, heavy clouds overhead. How had he not noticed those when he had all of that time to stand around doing nothing? "Now we're going to get rained on," Silver complained as Lyra seemed to notice the same issue._

_She shrugged. "Lavender Town is nearby. Let's hurry."_

_They took off, running north. The bridge swayed and creaked under their feet. Within five minutes of leaving Lyra's fishing spot, the temperature began to drop while the wind moaned eerily in their ears. Silver noticed that Lyra watched the sky with the wonder of a child. Yes, he'd known her for three years now, but sometimes the things she did really caught him off guard. "That's gonna be some storm in a bit, huh?" Lyra asked, shooting Silver the full wattage of her grin._

_Silver gave her a death glare. "If we get caught in it, I will grill your Relicanth for lunch."_

"_Hey! I just spent over an hour fishing for him!"_

"_Hey! I just spent over an hour waiting for you while you were fishing for him!"_

_The two ran in silence after this. Silver felt exhausted and wanted to call out his Crobat for a ride; he knew that Lyra would never let him. His Crobat was a nocturnal Pokémon, after all, and there was also a storm brewing. Lyra wouldn't want anyone to get struck by lightning, after all._

_Lavender Town was in sight when the first raindrops began to fall._

"_Dammit!" Silver growled. "I'm frying your Relicanth and making a sandwich out of it now!" The gentle pit-pat of raindrops turned into a roaring downpour as he spoke. Lyra whacked him in the arm, hard. Silver felt his foul mood spiral out of control as his clothes became drenched with rain. Bitterly cold against his wet clothing, Silver wrapped his arms around himself to maintain body heat._

_When they got into town not long after this, the glorious afternoon they had just experienced was clearly just a faint memory. The rain was falling so hard that it left tiny craters in the snow. "House of Memories!" Lyra called over the roar of the rain. "It's closer than the Pokémon Center!"_

_They sprinted the final distance to the house that had replaced the Pokémon Tower as a graveyard. The windows glowed with warmth in the darkness presented by the rain. Lyra and Silver slid through the doorway._

_The House of Memories felt warm and inviting compared to the chill of the rain outside, in spite of it being a mausoleum. Supposedly every single grave that sat in the Pokémon Tower (which had been converted into the Kanto Radio Tower) had been transferred here, but it seemed like it was a building with only one floor. "This was a great idea, Lyra. Now we're surrounded by dead Pokémon," Silver hissed._

_As soon as they entered the house, an old man began weaving through the graves toward them. He held a sleeping Cubone in his arms. "Mr. Fuji! Sorry to bother you like this, but it's pouring outside," Lyra greeted and informed him with a bright smile. Silver noticed she kept her voice low and stood as far away from the tombstones as she could manage. _

"_Lyra, hello," the kind old man responded with a smile of his own. He seemed like the kind grandfather archetype seen in movies and read about in stories. "It's nice to see you on this rainy afternoon. You haven't been around in a while. Who's your friend?"_

"_This is Silver," she said, tugging Silver closer by his sleeve. "He hasn't been here before, so he doesn't understand the rules here."_

_Mr. Fuji studied Silver with eyes that were surprisingly hard for his friendly, wrinkly face. The old man might have been kind, but Silver knew that he wouldn't stand for any crap in this glorified mausoleum. "Young man, you must be quiet in here. This is a place where the deceased allies of Trainers from all over the Kanto and Sinnoh rest. For example, the Raticate of the Gym Leader Blue lays here. They all deserve respect, since they have been good friends and fighters over the years."_

"_They're dead," Silver said flatly, "what does it matter?"_

_Lyra gasped and glared at him with eyes that seemed to burn with gold in the lantern light. "I thought you were beyond this, Silver."_

_Mr. Fuji frowned. "Young man, if you cannot show some decency for the Pokémon that lay here in eternal rest, I will have to kick you out." The Cubone stirred, opening his eyes sleepily to look at Lyra and Silver curiously. _

_Lyra gazed at the Cubone. "Is that the Cubone you were telling me about? The one whose mother died because of Team Rocket?"  
"No, this is his son, actually. That Cubone is a Marowak now and travels with my granddaughter. He flourishes under her love and training in ways that he never did. My wife, bless her soul, would've been so proud of her," Mr. Fuji said. Silver felt his mood hit rock-bottom at the mention of Team Rocket murdering a Pokémon and how casually the two spoke of it, even as Lyra smiled and leaned forward to scratch the little Pokémon under his chin. How could she be happy when she was dripped water onto the floor and found herself surrounded by dead Pokémon?_

_Silver sighed as they talked. He glanced around, noticing names and dates on the tombstones around him. _Rest in peace, Nova. You were the best Butterfree to ever fly the earth, _read one. The stone itself was dated from at least six years ago and appeared to have been commissioned by a Teresa Wilson from Viridian City. She seemingly had quite a bit of money, considering that the tombstone was carved from marble and carved with detailed blossoms. Another one nearby stated, _Rest in peace, my beloved Jolteon. You gave me some of the best years of my life. _An inscrutable name of a person from Ecruteak City in the Johto made Silver wonder if the Jolteon had belonged to a former kimono girl ages ago. Unlike Nova the Butterfree's tombstone, this one was constructed from a humble sort of stone, something brown flecked with gray and tawny. He felt a sick twist in his stomach as he noticed an even more modest grave that read: _Here lies a Marowak who fought for her son to the bitter end like a true hero. May she rest in peace, and may her tormentors repent for their crime. _Silver wiped a hand across his brow, feeling sick at the inscription. His father had ordered that on the Pokémon. His father had caused this. His own flesh and blood. This sickness spiraled through him and burned painfully in his gut, burned in his heart and his head…it was hatred he hadn't felt in a long time. Hatred for his father and the organization he was supposed to lead one day and then ran from._

"…_if she ever breeds another Cubone from that Marowak, can you convince her to give me the Egg? I love raising Pokémon from Eggs," Lyra was saying._

_Silver noticed a lull in the conversation and asked in a low voice, "Who chose the inscription for that Marowak's grave?"_

"_I did," Mr. Fuji said, raising one eyebrow. "She was a wild Pokémon, but the fight she put up was worth of immortalization on this stone. Do you have a problem with it?"  
"Why did you mention Team Rocket there?" Silver asked, feeling a harsh note enter his voice. He wasn't angry that Mr. Fuji had, but he was pissed that there was any reminder of the past he'd escaped on this day._

_Mr. Fuji carefully answered, "I did not mention them by name, as you can see, but should a person come by who was involved in killing her, they will feel remorse and understand that they have affected more than a single Marowak when they committed their act." Gazing at Silver steadily, he added, "Do you feel that it dishonors Marowak?"  
"It's making that f***ing grave into a political statement!" Silver found himself improvising. His voice was loud, earning a whimper from the Cubone. He didn't care about the little Pokémon's complaints as he snapped, "If this is a graveyard meant for respecting dead Pokémon, you failed that Marowak right there! So much for caring about Pokémon, huh?"_

"_Silver!" Lyra gasped, her volume and pitch rising to inappropriate levels for the House of Memories. Mr. Fuji blanched at Silver's words, and a look of fury rose onto his features that Silver didn't know was possible for the man who'd just smiled at two dripping-wet, grumpy kids that walked in._

_He pointed to the door. "Young man. I'm going to ask you to leave. You obviously have little respect for anything living or dead." _

_Silver felt a sense of victory when he realized he didn't have to stay in this house of insidious reminders. Waving over his shoulder, he said, "No problem. See ya."_

"_Let me talk some sense into him," he heard Lyra plead with Mr. Fuji as he headed toward the door. _

_Mr. Fuji sighed. "If you must."_

_Silver hurried out the door. He didn't want to talk to Lyra about this. She knew he couldn't stand reminders of Team Rocket; he would've bet his latest earnings from the battles he'd won on Route Twelve and Silence Bridge earlier that morning that she would once again tell him that he couldn't let his past get to him like that and spout a ton of crap about how his future wasn't set in stone. However, she burst out the door before he got all of five feet away and cried, "Silver! Wait up! What's wrong?"  
Silver whirled on his heel, roaring, "Go back inside, why don't you? Go stay where it's warm with that stupid old man!"_

"_Not until you tell me what's wrong!" she demanded, marching up to Silver until she stood all of a foot away from him. Lately he had grown until he was half a head taller than her, and he was going to use all of that height to menace her. _

_Silver loomed on her, glaring at her with crimson eyes. "You heard what's wrong. Go the f*** away." He started to turn away, but he felt Lyra's hand latch onto his sleeve with an impressive grip, holding him in place._

"_I thought you'd outgrown this," Lyra said quietly, her expression bewildered and a little sad. "Sure, you're still really grumpy a lot, but I thought you kind of respected things now."_

"_Pfft! As if, Lyra! Don't give me qualities I don't even have!" Silver snarled, ripping out of her grip. _

_Anger leaked into Lyra's features. She rarely became angry herself, even if she did raise her voice quite a bit when she was younger in particular, but now it was apparent. He wondered what might spill from lips that seemed more innocent than wrathful. "Silver," she started, and the way she said his name was absolutely poisonous, so poisonous that it could've contended with his Crobat's Poison Fang attack. "You're making yourself look like a giant idiot right now. We were out of the rain. You could've been warm and dry. Mr. Fuji would've offered us towels eventually."_

"_Shut up!" Silver snapped. He stepped toward her, and she edged back nervously. "Go back in there with that idiot. _You _didn't get kicked out."_

"_But Silver—" she started, but Silver felt this urge to be alone and be angry for a while. He needed to infuriate her to a point that she'd leave him alone for a little while and purge himself of this feeling. _

_He gave her an intense look. "Stop following me and go back inside like the good girl you are."_

_Silver suddenly realized he went too far when he could see the fury snap in Lyra's eyes. She pulled her hat down low over her eyes, as if she meant to disguise this look, but there was no disguising the insolent tone in her voice as she said, "How about you stop acting like your father and come back inside with this good girl?"  
Anger didn't burn anymore. It had solidified into a ball of ice, dragging heavily on him. He felt nothing; not the cold of the rain, the way that his own breath felt hot and smoky in his nose with rage. All he felt was the chill of this anger that weighed like a thousand Wailord in his chest. Yet it felt weightless and uncontrolled as he advanced on Lyra, pushing her back against the wall of the House of Memories behind her. "I am NOT Giovanni," he snarled at her, forcing her against the wall with the full weight of his body. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her. "I AM NOT THAT BASTARD!" _

_Lyra stared up at him, horror and shame in her expression. In that moment he felt her heart fluttering like a trapped Rattata beneath him…and that was when his senses seemed to return to him. Her soaking clothes clung to her body, cold like Mt. Silver snow against him. Her breathing was ragged, and though Silver wasn't bleeding, he tasted the rot of iron that often came with blood in his mouth. _

_The hazel of Lyra's eyes, the hazel that was normally lit with warmth, the eyes he could see both tawny and chocolate in, seemed dark and flat with a new concoction of emotions that he could no longer comprehend."I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice choked. Pushing out from under him, she darted back into the House of Memories. _

_Silver stood there, staring at the wall where Lyra had just been pressed there. By him. He'd _shaken _her like she was an unwieldy Growlithe pup. Like he wanted her to hurt. _I…what did I just do? Why did I do that to her? _He thought. _What have I done? _Turning away from the wall, he ran far from the House of Memories, shooting past the Pokémon Center. At the northern entrance to the town, it struck him so hard that he fell to all fours, breathing hard. "Lyra…I…I didn't mean that…I…that wasn't…my plan." Taking his head in his hands as he sat up, he screamed to the unrelenting, clouded sky. It wasn't just a cold, tasteless rain dripping down his face anymore. There was hot, salty rain, too. He knew it wasn't rain, but he needed to hold on to anything he could since he'd just thrown away everything he had with Lyra all in one argument._

_Arceus, was he ever stupid._

* * *

"Silver…"

The feminine voice of his rival and his once-again travelling companion ripped Silver from his nightmare, the same detailed one that had once been a living nightmare, and he sat bolt-upright. The room was dusky with early morning, cloaking Lyra, who peered in through the doorway, in an ashen gray that washed out her hair and deadened her skin tone. "Silver. Are you all right?" she asked.

Silver suddenly felt self-conscious. Last night he'd stripped off his outer layers, leaving him in his boxers when he went to bed. _She probably thinks I'm seeking some sort of attention. More like pajamas are a waste of packing space, _he thought, trying to look irritated that Lyra woke him up while most likely failing miserably. "So is it national 'bother your sleeping redheaded rival with a crappy attitude' day?" he asked.

"I thought I heard crying. Aside from Nurse Joy, who sleeps on the other side of the Pokémon Center, it's just you and me here. So…I wondered…are you all right?" she asked, pushing the door further closed behind her with one bare foot. Silver noticed that she had one of those cutesy matching pajama sets on that was just a little too big for her; the top and pants were Snubbull pink and printed all over with Mareep. With her hair loose and in her face, she looked young, easily as young as the snotty waitress in the café. It was cute on her. As Champion, she'd taken on a fairly fierce sort of look in the past few years; it seemed as though she knew every possible way to defend herself and inflict damage. However, like this…she seemed vulnerable. Attractively so. Silver wanted to slap himself for thinking that, especially when she was already in here because she had heard him crying in his sleep.

Pulling a puzzled look, Silver raised his eyebrows slightly. "Crying, huh? You think I was crying?" he asked, not being able to help the smirk that came across his features.

Lyra gazed up at the ceiling, as if it offered her an answer to the question she'd just asked. After a moment, she settled for, "Are you certain you weren't? You know, guys can cry, too. Ethan cries all the time."  
"He's a pansy."

"…well, okay. Yeah, he is, but he's a guy."

"He barely fits on the male spectrum, Lyra," Silver responded, unable to help himself to such a remark. Her Marill-loving friend was enough to make Silver want to punch forty boulders and call the Legendary Pokémon Entei a girly little Skitty in order to feel tough again.

Lyra chuckled a little, scratching the back of her head. "I suppose. There was a reason he and Kris didn't last, I suppose. She's always seemed to have more testosterone than him." Looking a little more serious, she walked over to Silver's bed and plopped down on the end. She was all of four inches away from the ends of his toes. "But, hey, unlike Ethan, you're…you're pretty tough. It's not going to ruin you to tell me if something's up, okay? I still consider you my friend," Lyra murmured.

Silver said nothing. _Friends. But…then…why is it that I feel like there's still something hanging between us? _He thought. "You're kind of the only person I've ever really thought of as a friend, aside from Pryce, I suppose," he confessed, feeling like he was spitting the words out through gritted teeth.

Lyra studied him closely. There was a lock of hair hanging smack down the center of her forehead that he wanted to tuck behind her ear. Without warning, she crawled toward him and wiped her thumb under his left eye. Silver flinched away, wondering what the hell she as up to. He didn't get to voice this before Lyra smirked. "I knew I saw a wet spot under your eye," Lyra said victoriously.

Growling, Silver tossed a pillow lightly at her, smacking her in the shoulder. "Tell no one, or I'll aim for your face next time." Here Lyra gave a smile, and she looked down in a way that was absolutely devastating in all the best ways. Silver had loved her during their time apart for the past three years, but it was like falling for her all over again. Everything she did filled him with a new pain—some hormonal, some emotional. He hoped he still had his best poker face on as he realized this. "Yeah…I just…I dreamed about the House of Memories," he told her. _Wait. What. The. Ever-loving. F***. BRAIN. Arceus damn you and your stupid-ass pranks at the crack of dawn! You've been taking lessons from Gengar, haven't you, brain? _Silver thought, enraged. There was no way Lyra didn't see his frustration with himself on his face.

Lyra's smile faded. After a few moments of silence, she breathed, "It was a bad day."  
Silver jammed his palms against his face, sighing heavily. "Lyra. You're really stupid for forgiving me and accepting my apology, you know that?" he slowly murmured. Everything was rushing out of him now. He needed to keep a rein on it if he didn't want Lyra to know just everything that he was thinking. "I just…I keep seeing your face that day. And there was this mix of emotions there that made me so ashamed of myself. Because you looked so hurt, you know that?" Silver grumbled into his hands.

He felt Lyra's surprised gaze on him, so he decided to might as well get this over with. "I forced you around like my father would've. I didn't have a good reason to. Hell, I just proved your point right, honestly. But…what I'm trying to say is that…" Silver figured that he might as well keep eye contact with Lyra as he said this. It was important. Lyra might otherwise start blaming herself for his actions again. "Lyra, if you knew what was good for you, you would've left without my help. You could be doing this all on your own. I'm useless. In fact, I'm worse than useless. I'm just a bitchy guy. You deserve much better help than me if you really want help." As he finished, he felt his gaze drop once more. It wasn't even a conscious thing; his eyes didn't belong on her, anyway. Someone like him didn't deserve to look at her.

He waited for her to tell him that he was wrong or attempt to pep-talk him, but she didn't speak a single word. Instead, he felt the gentle warmth of her hands sliding over his shoulders before her arms linked around his next. She was hugging him? But why? After she'd received her seventh Johto Badge or so, Lyra realized that Silver wasn't the sort who liked to be touched very often and quit her attempts at hugging him. So what was this? Silver sat there, unsure of whether to return the hug or push her away, but he got caught somewhere in between the warmth of her body and the tickle of her breath over his left shoulder. It was now that she spoke. "Silver, it's like you're forgetting that you saved me. You're the only person in the world right now who has the right to say that, you know. I can't hate you for something you did three years ago, anyway. That boy that night…that wasn't you. I can be angry at him, but I can't be angry at you."

"I don't have a case of Jekyll and Hyde—"

Lyra sighed heavily, cutting off the statement he was about to make. "I'm aware of that. But Silver…I was so afraid that you hated me for comparing you to your dad. You were miserable that day. I had made you wait for a long time on Silence Bridge. You hadn't really slept the night before. We got rained on, too. Of course you were angry." She released him from her embrace and sat back, studying him. "And the House of Memories must have reminded you of Team Rocket, which would've made you even angrier. Now I can mention them without a frown from you, but back then it was total taboo."

Silver scratched at the back of his head, unsure of what to say now. Lyra had caught onto it. The House of Memories had done him in, setting him on edge with memories of Team Rocket. "Look, Lyra, we haven't really slept for that long. It'd be stupid to not try to go back to bed for a while. Besides, we're somehow travelling to Hoenn tomorrow."

"Oh. I have a plan already," Lyra said.

Silver leaned forward, one eyebrow raised. "Which is…?"

"Gengar might have told us that Lugia might have disappeared, but I don't think it'd kill us to go to the Whirl Islands and try to chat with him. He flies and swims really well; he'd get us there faster than any boat ride could," she explained, slipping off the bed. As she headed toward the door, she asked, "Is that okay with you?"

"We don't have a better option," Silver responded.

Lyra waved at him. "Go back to bed for a bit. Set your alarm for eight-thirty. Tomorrow we need to try and coax Lugia out of hiding. Arceus save us all," she added with an odd little laugh. Silver watched her leave, closing the door behind her. He was left reeling with her words, with forgiveness and grace that he still did not deserve, with the way her hands had trailed over his shoulders. He wondered at how she had mentioned that she was the one person who'd ever managed to rescue her from something. _Feel honored, _Silver thought. _You're not some Prince Charming or whatever, but it looks like you're the one person who's ever really come through for her like that._

Yet, in spite of this, he wondered, more than anything, what the Hoenn was like outside of too-colorful photographs and travel brochures, and whether or not he and Lyra were going to have any success when they set foot there.

* * *

_A/N: Hello there! Here is the first of my "Well, oh crap, I posted everything I'd written and now I have to start from scratch and attempt to write quality stuff while still updating every few days!" updates. I'm sorry if this seems really scattered or like it's extraneous. My thoughts haven't been entirely with this at the moment, as my little brother is currently in the hospital after an emergency procedure and his recovery hasn't been going as well as it should. ((You can always tell if I'm emotionally defunct at the moment by how bad or disorganized my conventions and content get))  
_

_So this is the chapter where Lavender Town/House of Memories is explained. Unlike Budapest in the Avengers, this is something I've always planned on filling you guys in about, although I'm pretty sure Budapest for the Black Widow and Hawkeye was much more fun than Lyra and Silver's argument in Lavender Town. Also, I realized that if I referred to the House of Memories at all in past chapters, I might've called it the Hall of Memories. This is a typo and I apologize, but I think Hall of Memories sounds a little more graveyard-esque than House of Memories. That sounds like the title of a Nicholas Sparks book, in my opinion._

_I've also had some complaints in PMs about how things are moving slowly between Lyra and Silver. Technically they aren't. They've been reunited for only a day or so at this point. So part of Lyra coming in and talking with Silver was to have just a touch of fluff, and it's also her admitting that she understands what was going through his head that night in Lavender Town. But anyway, there, fluff-lovers. There was a freaking hug this chapter. I promise you, there will be some pretty ship-happy things coming up. But honestly, I'm more concerned with having a worthwhile plot at this point.  
_

_ So Silver was a bit OOC when Lyra came into his room this chapter. But she also caught him at around 4:30 am or so. It's hard to keep up whatever personality everyone thinks you have that early in the morning._

_Back on the subject of PMs, I've also received a few wondering when there will be action and battles. Soon, my friends. Wait for them to reach the Hoenn and head toward Mt. Pyre._

_Thanks to my constant reviewers (I've mentioned you guys so many times that I won't wear your names out with this author's note) and also to the people who favorite and follow this story. It makes me happy to see that you all have a little something invested in this and enjoy reading it._

_Keep reviewing, guys! I appreciate the reviews a lot. They keep my morale up. _


	11. Powerful Allies

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there would have been female protagonists to play as in Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness.

* * *

There was a flurry of activity in the Pokémon Center as Lyra and Silver got themselves ready to leave. Their early morning conversation somewhat hazy in their minds with the sleep between now and then, Lyra didn't attempt to make small talk. Silver kept glancing at her, like he was wondering what had really been on her mind that morning and what she thought now. Or maybe it was that she'd let Quagsire out of his Pokeball and he was currently following her around more closely than her own shadow would. He wasn't the brightest fellow, but he truly felt powerful affection for his Trainer. Regardless, they didn't talk much. Nurse Joy certainly more than made up for that, though.

"Lyra, your temperature is still above average! It would do you some good to rest!" she cried, following Lyra about as she went about her preparations.

She sighed. "No, I'm fine, Joy. Honestly."

"Whatever you're doing can't be so important that you'd risk your health to charge around like a fool," Joy grumbled. Nearby, her Chansey nodded slowly, giving Lyra what was supposed to be an intimidating look.

Lyra smiled, and then she said to Nurse Joy, "I appreciate the concern, but I really do have to get going. Time is of the essence." She glanced over her shoulder to see Silver standing, fully-dressed and seemingly packed already. "Hey, are you ready to go?" Lyra asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. So quit lollygagging already and let's go."

"Lollygagging," Lyra muttered to herself, chuckling. She earned one of Silver's frighteningly crimson glowers before he headed outside. Throwing her jacket on, she looked to Nurse Joy. "Thank you for your hospitality. I don't know when I'll be back here again."

She nodded, looking fretful. "Don't hurt yourself, all right?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She headed outside. The morning was clear and the air was frigid, biting her bare hands as she quickly returned her Quagsire before calling out Xatu once more. She slid on her gloves after this as she headed over to Silver, who stood facing away from her as he gazed at the glimmer of the faraway strait. His Crobat had wrapped his wings over his shoulders. The sight made Lyra happy; watching Silver care for his Pokémon in a somewhat kind way after the way he'd originally treated them was enough to make her feel a true flicker of warmth inside. "Hey," she greeted, earning his attention, "ready to get going?"  
"I thought we clarified that inside," Silver grumbled, but he nodded anyway.

Lyra stroked a hand over her Xatu's head. "Let's get going. We're burning up the time we have the sun on our side."

* * *

Kuni opened her eyes, which felt sticky with the meager amount of time that she had slept, and rolled over onto her side. It was close to nine in the morning—she'd slept a little longer than she'd intended to. Vaporeon was still asleep against her, his back pressed to her belly. She allowed herself a few moments to recalibrate her mind and remember what had happened last night. _Kris. Suicune's memory. I called Lyra, _she went over to herself as she stroked Vaporeon's webbed neck ruff. With the other hand, she reached for her Pokegear. She'd turned it on silent while she slept. It was a selfish move on her behalf, but she also needed to try and catch up on sleep. Never was it a good thing to wake up exhausted two mornings in a row.

She checked her Pokegear. Right. There were now five missed calls on her Pokegear and two voicemails. Looking through the history, four of those calls were from Morty, along with one of the voicemails. She'd missed him again while she slept. The fifth call was from Sayo, her sister. The call was from only twenty-four minutes ago or so. Chances were that the other voicemail was from her and that it was a rambling thing that would make Kuni's ears bleed before it was over. She quickly punched in Sayo's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Kuni?" Sayo's voice answered on the second ring. She sounded worried.

Kuni nodded, though she knew Sayo couldn't see that, and replied, "That _is _my name."

"I'm in the National Park now. I had to stay overnight with Whitney in Goldenrod City on my way back from Azalea Town last night because it was too cold and snowy to keep going, and I saw Raikou standing near the fountain in National Park on my way back just this morning," she said.

This bit of information caused Kuni's heart rate to accelerate quickly. Breathing shakily, she said, "What was he doing?"

"The park was abandoned aside from some Bug Catchers over by the Pokeathlon Dome. I froze when I saw him, and he looked up at me. He, like, nodded at me before taking off to the east," Sayo explained. Kuni immediately thought of Lyra and Silver at Mt. Silver, which was off to the east, but that was ridiculous. Why would Raikou seek them out?

Kuni inhaled slowly before replying, "Entei left the Burned Tower, too. But you're absolutely sure it was Raikou and not like a Luxray or something?"  
"Yes, Kuni. Yes. I'm absolutely certain," Sayo responded severely. "Besides, a Luxray looks nothing like a Raikou. Raikou is yellow and gi-freaking-normous, and a Luxray is biggish, too, but they're blue. I'm not an idiot."

Kuni sat up, causing her Vaporeon to wake up and mewl angrily at her. She leaned forward, hugging her knees to her chest as she said, "Just making sure. By the way, I have four missed calls from Morty and a voicemail, too. I'm going to see what that was all about. When will you be home?"

"Um…well…I have to remember how to use my legs, so I guess I'll call you when I'm on my way. The walk takes like three hours in heavy snow from the National Park to the dance theatre, as you know." With that, Sayo hung up, leaving Kuni frowning with frustration at the wall across from her bed. _That was such minimal information. If I can get Morty on the line, he'll be pissed that I have such little information._

She dialed Morty's number. If she could help it, she'd get information from him as opposed to one of his voicemails. Vaporeon sat up next to her and butted his head to her hand, looking for attention. "Por vap, poreon," he said. Lyra scratched him behind one ear. At approximately the second to last ring that Kuni's Pokegear would allow, Morty surprisingly picked up.

"Is this Kuni?" he asked.

"Yes. I thought caller ID would've told you that," Kuni grumbled, kneading her forehead.

Morty gave a harsh laugh on the other end. "Sassy today, aren't we? Did you even listen to my voicemail?"

"Nope. I'll bet you didn't listen to any of mine," Kuni said, a wry smirk contorting her features.

Morty seemed to sigh. After a moment, he responded snidely, "I especially liked the one where you said I had all of the intelligence and charm of a Slowpoke. It made me feel well-appreciated. What a lucky man I am to know a lady of your caliber."

Kuni found herself blushing out of embarrassment. _That probably was a bad insult. _"Well, then you know about Lyra, right?" she asked as Vaporeon seemed to chuckle at her reaction.

She could practically feel his mood darken. "Yes. But of all people, why has she teamed up with Silver? He has become a good Trainer, admittedly, and I suppose he isn't completely lacking in intelligence or common sense. However, what can he do for her that I couldn't or that her cousin couldn't?"  
"First off, you're supposedly in the Orre," Kuni grumbled, shutting him up effectively. It bothered her that he thought he could be helpful to Lyra, but not because she didn't think that he wasn't helpful. No, it was how he'd worded it. Kuni knew that for a while that he'd been somewhat attracted to her (or maybe he still was, but he wasn't certain of that). It certainly wasn't that she wished that he'd talk about her like that. Definitely not. He was just an idiot Gym Leader who disappeared with very little warning and rarely picked up her calls. "Secondly, Kris and Suicune are off searching for Raikou and Entei. So, Lyra and Silver are actually a good pair for this kind of thing. You know he really watches out for her, right? Even if Lyra does most of the work in getting her Glaceon back, at least Silver is going to make damned sure that she doesn't get killed or kidnapped or something like that along the way."

Morty sighed once more. There'd been a lot of sighing from anyone involved in this ghostly beast trouble. "Okay. Well, if they're coming to Hoenn, they should know that I'm in Hoenn if they need help. If you had listened to my voicemail, you'd know that. Plus, I'm also currently sitting near Ho-oh."

"What?" Kuni hissed, startling Vaporeon. "In Hoenn? What the hell is he doing in Hoenn?"

"Ho-oh came to the Hoenn, and he got attacked by these odd…beasts…near Mt. Chimney. About eight of them, I think. They looked like ghost Pokémon like Shuppet and Duskull, but they had glowing red eyes and fangs, and they all looked kind of…zombie-like, for lack of a better word. Even though they were really small, they were really hurting Ho-oh" he said, and he sounded ragged. "I managed to drive them off, but it took my whole party to do it. My Gengar and Mismagius almost got spirited away, too."

Kuni rubbed at one of her eyebrows, wondered how to respond to that. Morty was a tough battler; not many Trainers walked out of his Gym with a Badge. Those beasts surely packed a punch. "Well, is Ho-oh okay?" she asked.

"He's grateful I came to help. He's using the heat here at Mt. Chimney to heal. And…I guess you could say we've teamed up," Morty added, sounding proud. Kuni couldn't help but smile. In the twenty-one years that he'd been alive, Morty had devoted himself to becoming Ho-oh's friend and partner. Now that he had that chance, Kuni knew for sure that he would be glowing with joy. _But unlike Eusine, he probably is still managing to think straight in his favorite Pokémon's presence._

"What's your plan?" Kuni asked.

"Kick some ass," Morty said.

From there, the conversation deteriorated, and they hung up shortly after. Kuni sat stroking her Vaporeon for a while. _Legendaries everywhere, _she thought. Pulling Vaporeon to her chest, she held him to her body. "I thought things couldn't get much weirder, Vaporeon. Guess I was wrong, huh?" she murmured to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I honestly never thought Ho-oh would want anything to do with him. Guess I was wrong with that, too."

* * *

It was near noon. Lyra and Silver were close to Olivine City; winds from the ocean buffeted them in the air. As they flew, Lyra filled Silver in on how to act around Lugia, who was fairly cantankerous with most people a good chunk of the time. Xatu and Crobat, however, were having their own conversation.

"If I have to keep flying during the day, I'm going to bite Silver so hard," Crobat growled, shooting a depraved glower over his shoulder at his Trainer.

Xatu, serene and thoughtful, replied, "I can't say I blame you. You are very much a nocturnal being. If I were expected to fly all the time at night I would not feel charitable, either."

Crobat growled low in his throat. "I mean, he's a lot nicer than he used to be, but boy does he ever piss me off sometimes." Another gust from the ocean buffeted them sideways, and Crobat nearly screamed with frustration.

Returning to their course, Xatu gave a sigh. She said, "This wind is maddening. Once we get out on the sea, there will be thermals to ride upon."

"Hope you're right about that, Little Miss Seer," Crobat grumbled. They were quiet for a while, listening to Silver ask questions about Lugia. Lyra spoke fondly of the guardian of the sea in each answer she gave; aside from her original party of six, he was one of the Pokémon that Lyra had the best relationship with. In fact, she considered him to be something of a father figure that she could talk about her problems with, especially since her own father had abandoned her and her mother. Crobat looked over to Xatu. "Your human gets pretty naturally lonely, doesn't she?" he asked.

"She can. Just from sifting through her thoughts and memories, I notice that before she had Pokémon, Lyra really only had her mother and Ethan. She didn't know her cousin Kris very well until their mothers decided that they should start their journeys at the same time," Xatu explained. Lyra tightened her grip around her neck as another wind slammed them with enough force to tilt Xatu so that one wing nearly pointed at the ground. Correcting her flight, Xatu spoke now. "This journey has been very good for her. She's sociable, but she needed to meet the right people to be sociable with."

Crobat gave a nod. "She has a ton of friends now."

"She has only a few close ones, though. Honestly, she just wants the opportunity to meet many Pokémon and people.

Not longer after this, they wheeled high above Olivine City. The lighthouse seemed to crackle with ice from even this height. It had been a bitter, unforgiving winter throughout the Johto region. "We're going out to the ocean now!" Lyra called over the keen of the wind.

"Thank Arceus. I was going to dump this idiot on your back if we got hit one more time with a wind like that," Crobat grumbled.

They wheeled out to the sea, grateful as updrafts from the ocean boosted their flight. The Whirl Islands were almost visible at this distance; it wouldn't take long to reach them and figure out whether or not Lugia was still there.

Lyra hopped easily off Xatu's back and landed on the sand. Out at sea it wasn't as bitterly cold; it had to be in the mid-thirties here. Silver followed her quickly, returning his Crobat. Here, she returned Xatu as well and didn't release another of her Pokémon. She felt that in dealing with Lugia, less was more. He wasn't one to deal with many Pokémon or people at one time; it had made her battle with him when she was eleven years old a particularly vicious one that ripped new caverns in the cave system below this island. "So…do we go in there now, or do we just stand out here like a couple of stupid Slowpoke?" Silver asked, raising his brows at her.

Lyra smiled. She'd always liked that he was motivated to get things done and efficiently at that. Ethan had always been such a…lollygagger. The word made her remember her conversation with Silver before they left the Pokémon Center. Remembering what Silver had just asked, she replied, "I'm going to have a bit of a thought conversation to make sure Lugia is here. If he's here, I'll make sure it's fine to bring you in with me, all right?"

He nodded. Lyra plopped down on the sand, crossing her legs. "I apologize in advance for this, but sometimes it's really hard to talk to him unless I'm really focused. He tunes out everyone's thoughts all the time, so I have to basically think 'Hey, Lugia, I'm here, it's Lyra' for at least ten minutes some days."

Silver said nothing in response. As Lyra began to think at Lugia, she heard him sit down next to her. His deep, even breathing, coupled with the incessant rhythm of the waves, gave Lyra something to focus on as she thought the string of words over and over like a prayer. Everything else escaped her mind…Glaceon…the horrid waitress in the café…her ability to speak to ghosts…her eyes slowly shut against the glare.

Minutes passed slowly. The bright sun overhead burned through her eyelids like a flame through a shred of paper. _Lugia. It's Lyra. I'm here, _she thought for the umpteenth time, eyelids lowered as she thought.

"Any luck?" Silver whispered after a while.

Lyra shook her head, puffing out a fierce sigh. If she had kept track of time accurately in her head, only six minutes passed as she thought to Lugia. Her rival was merely being impatient. It was this burst of irritation with Silver's impatience, though, that seemed to bring a shocking image of dark, searing eyes into her head. They were the ones that belonged to Lugia. _What is all of this inane shouting about, Lyra? _The guardian of the deep rumbled into her mind.

_Oh, thank Arceus you're here, _Lyra thought to him, relieved. She shot a thumbs-up at Silver, who would hopefully interpret it as success. _Many other Legendaries are disappearing. I was making sure you're here._

Lugia seemed to scoff in his head. _It seems more that you are seeking help. You can't disguise your thoughts very well, young lady. Is that your irritating piss-Durant of a rival? _He asked her, his tone snarky.

Lyra couldn't help but laugh out loud, no doubt earning a puzzled look from her rival. _You're right on all counts. Silver is with me. And…well, you know what we need help with, if you're just rifling through my thoughts like that, _she retorted.

_I suppose if Ho-oh is gone and other Pokémon have disappeared as well, I might as well do something, _he said huffily. In spite of his reluctant tone, Lyra knew that he was concerned. Lugia oftentimes received very little information of the world away from the oceans, the knowledge he'd filched from Lyra's head enacted the side of him that very much wanted to protect anyone that he could. _But…Lyra. You do understand that I cannot leave this cavern for long periods of time, correct? I would be able to ferry you and that scalawag rival to the Hoenn in under a day and a half, whether I fly there or swim there, and then I'd have to return here._

Though Lugia couldn't see it, Lyra nodded her head. She retorted, _I'm grateful for your help. Ho-oh, his messengers, and my Glaceon will be happy to hear that you're helping out like this._

Lugia suddenly chuckled, and Lyra didn't understand why. _His messengers, Lyra? I sense one of them near us right now. I believe only one is unaccounted for now. I will be up shortly._

_ What? _Lyra retorted, and her eyes snapped open as she heard Silver exclaim something inappropriate in astonishment. The sun dazzled her, and it took her a moment for her eyes to readjust to the light. She noticed Silver standing next to her, legs braced as though he was about to enter a fistfight, and she stood herself, dazed. Looking in the direction Silver faced, she found herself no more than ten feet away from the Electric-type messenger of Ho-oh, his mane thrumming with electricity.

* * *

Silver wasn't sure how to react to Raikou's presence. He was supposed to be missing. Hadn't Kuni said that he wasn't in the Burned Tower anymore? _We thought something bad had happened…and I guess we were wrong, _Silver thought, riveted in place. The golden-pelted Legendary ignored Silver and gave Lyra a deep, meaningful look, his tempestuous mane fluttering in the wind like an undulating cloud front. "Raikou," Lyra murmured, dipping her head. "We're glad to see you safe. What brings you here?"

Silver expected to hear silence, as Lugia hadn't spoken to him previously, and was surprised to hear Raikou answer, _I sensed that you have been after one of your own Pokémon after she was stolen from you. Plus, Ho-oh is missing and I've been attempting to track him down, to no avail. _He gazed at Lyra fondly. _You have always been very kind to Entei, Suicune, and me. I'd like to help you out._

"Wow!" Lyra exclaimed, and Silver could hear the ten-year-old that he'd so stupidly despised with all that he had in him in that single word. "Raikou, this is a heavy thing you're offering. I mean, we've only really met a few times at most, and during every single one of those encounters I was wondering whether or not I could capture you," she admitted, scratching the back of her head.

Raikou made an odd chuffing noise. Silver took this to be laughter, as Raikou then said, _I can't say I blame you. If I were a human, I'd want to capture myself as well. _He turned his lightning-bright eyes to Silver, and he suddenly felt as though the Pokémon was deciding whether or not to eat him. _You're her rival, yes?_

Clearing his throat, Silver answered, "Yeah. What of it?"

_You seem to be formidable enough, young man. Is your name…Silver? I remember sensing you in the Burned Tower the day that Lyra's presence stirred us all._

"Lyra, you did _what_ to them?" Silver asked Lyra flatly, eyes narrowed. _That sounds seriously dirty._

She chuckled, rubbing at the back of her neck. "You were there. You'd know that somehow they came out of hibernation or whatever and charged off when I got close."

_She is special, _Raikou said, and he gave Silver a meaningful look. _Truly special._

Silver wondered whether or not his face was turning red at that point. Thankfully, Lyra interrupted this by sidling up to Raikou. Pausing before him, she bashfully asked, "Um…while we wait for Lugia…can I…touch your fur?"  
_There's no more waiting to be done. _The sea churned as Lugia burst from the depths. His silver feathers caught the light and cast resplendent spots of light on the water. Silver gazed at him in awe and envy; what a powerful Pokémon he was. He couldn't imagine the sort of punch he could pack with his vast size and immense psychic ability. Lugia cast his eyes over to Raikou. _Oh. Hello there, Raikou. I knew I sensed you back when you were in the National Park. Why did you go so far out east on your way here? _He asked the Electric-Type in a very public manner. Silver wondered how interesting the answer was if the question was voiced for everyone else to hear.

Raikou flicked his eyes over to Lyra. _I was seeking out this one. And her grumpy rival. I went east toward Mt. Silver, but I discovered that these two had already left and began to head to your island, _he responded.

Silver made a rude gesture at Raikou. "My name is Silver. I am not just her rival, okay?"

_Are you her lover? _Raikou asked with a lecherous look passing over his normally intimidating face. _Do you two place bets on your Pokémon battles about what the loser has to do after? _Lyra and Silver sputtered, red-faced and not at all confident, at the suggestion. Silver couldn't believe that a Pokémon like Raikou would be so dirty-minded.

_Dad would've flipped shit if he found out that Legendaries are lechers, too, _he thought to himself, scratching at his forehead awkwardly.

They silenced as Lugia landed softly on the beach, kicking up a little sand with his wings. He said, _I hope you all will take this more seriously. You are here to go to the Hoenn. And Raikou, must I really carry your extra weight along with the weight of two humans?_

He nodded solemnly. _Yes. You have a broad back. We will all fit._

Silver found himself pleased that Raikou wanted to help. As strong as Lyra's Pokémon were and as well-trained as his had become, the assistance of a Legendary who could conjure thunderstorms and soar in the air using their electricity was going to be useful. He noticed that Lyra was particularly excited about it.

Lugia groaned externally. With all of the lack of enthusiasm he could possibly exhibit, he crouched low on the ground so that the three could get on his back. _I am not supposed to be a minivan, towing children and a Raikou about, _he thought.

Raikou hopped easily onto his back, curling up between the rows of dark flaps that decorated Lugia's back. He seemed very comfortable there, as if he'd used Lugia as air transport before. Lyra started toward Lugia with Silver following her closely. "I have enough provisions for a day and a half of travel," Lyra murmured to herself, fiddling with her bag, "but what if we don't land in the right spot in the Hoenn and we're out of food for a while?"

Silver couldn't help but smile a little at the concerns she was expressing. Without a prior feeling of guilt, he sidled up beside her and flipped her hood back. "Quit worrying about food. You're starting to sound like Ethan. And that's pretty bad shit right there," Silver warned Lyra, not without some affection.

She looked at him as though she didn't quite recognize him for a brief moment. Then, she broke out into a depraved grin. "You're just grumpier when you're hungry," she teased as she flipped her hood back over her head.

"All men are."

_I second that, _Raikou commented as Lyra attempted to climb up on Lugia's back. _Males do not function well on an empty stomach, Lyra. It makes us angry._

The great silvery Pokémon made strange sounds as Lyra struggled to clamber up the broad expanse of his back. _Hurry up. My sides are rather ticklish, you know, _Lugia chastised, even as his sides heaved with the sound.

"Quit laughing and I'll be able to move faster!" Lyra replied indignantly.

Silver sighed and walked up behind her. Pushing his hands under her feet, he shoved her up onto Lugia's back and quickly followed her. His height gave him an advantage to grab the handhold that the flaps on Lugia's back provided as he scrambled up so that he sat next to her. "Thanks for that," Lyra said.

"No problem. You're tiny," Silver said. _What sort of lame word would Ethan use for her? Petite? Featherweight? _

Gazing at Lugia's back, Silver realized that it was so broad in most places that there was no way to straddle his back. Plus, the flaps were arranged in such a way that they didn't make for practical grips in flight. "Hey, Lugia. How the hell are we not going to fall off your back?"

The Legendary gave a sigh. _I am a Psychic-type Pokémon. All it takes is a little bit of my power to keep you in place while I fly. _

Raikou twisted to face Lyra and Silver, eyeing the redhead with a particularly judgmental look. He accused, _Do you truly believe that Lugia would allow us on his back to fly without safety? He is like the overly-protective father of the Pokémon world._

Before Silver could respond to Raikou's irritating comment, Lugia took off. The sensation was startling. Silver immediately felt the need to grab onto something, but there was no good reason to. Though he felt the movement of Lugia, he knew he wasn't being affected as the massive Pokémon took off slowly into the sky, gaining altitude before he increased his speed. Raikou seemed unaffected by the strange sensation, licking a paw like a bored Persian. Lyra, on the other hand, seemed terrified out of her mind by the mix of feelings coursing through her. "You mean to say we're going to travel for a day and half like this?" Lyra muttered.

Lugia seemed to hear her and gave his strange, rumbling laugh in response. Without warning, he suddenly tripled his speed and shot off to the western horizon. Lyra gave a cry of surprise, yelling to the sky, "Glaceon, you'd better be okay, because I'm doing some crazy crap to come find you!"

Silver and Raikou exchanged amused and concerned looks as they left the Whirl Islands far behind them. It was going to be a long thirty-six hours, without a doubt.

* * *

Kuni chewed at her ramen without much appetite as she attempted to eat lunch. With her Pokegear sitting out at the table, she flipped through her messages and calls one more time. There was still no call from Sayo yet—chances were that she used the "time to regain her legs" or whatever she'd call it was really a trip to the Goldenrod Department Store to shop in a façade of appearing normal to others after seeing Raikou. Likewise, Lyra hadn't responded to her call. _Didn't I tell you to call me as you travelled, you idiot? _She thought at Lyra with irritation.

In order to chastise her friend, Kuni punched in Lyra's number and waited for her friend to pick up her Pokegear.

* * *

Lugia and his passengers passed over Cianwood City when Lyra's Pokegear rang. However, due to its night spent ringing from Kuni's previous calls, the charge was low and the ringer was muffled by Lyra's bag. After three rings, the device died entirely. In the excitement of yesterday, Lyra had forgotten to call Kuni. Now she also lacked important information vital to her time in the Hoenn region.

Fate was certainly not a fan of the former Johto and Kanto Champion.

* * *

_A/N: Welcome to "I planned on publishing this when the sun was up, but what the hell? I already have it mostly finished and mostly edited." So welcome to Chapter 11 of It's Been A While, written over the course of two late nights and some angry sighing and editing that occurred during the day.  
_

_Yep, my headcanon for Lyra includes her being horrid with remembering to answer her Pokegear and to call people on time. I don't imagine she gets to have rematches with the Gym Leaders around the Johto much! I have the same issue, except it's multiplied tenfold with my beloved protagonist..._

_Your patience, action-lovers, will be rewarded next chapter. Fluff-lovers...well, I always try to throw a little in. After all, this is a Soulsilvershipping fic, so there always has to be something going on between the two. There'll be a good fluff section next chapter, no doubt._

_I've always loved Raikou. What isn't there to love about Raikou? I've decided on having Raikou help out because 1) Suicune is with Kris, who has different plans than Lyra and 2) Entei is a very overused Pokemon in fics, I believe. Raikou needs a little love, too! If anyone can guess the two very different roles he plays in this story, I'll give you a cyber high five and lots of affection.  
_

_I would love to thank my constant reviewers, the list of those of you who have favorited this, and also anyone who's shared this fic with a friend. It helps me cut through writer's block, seeing your love for this tale.  
_

_Keep up the reviews! I love your thoughts and opinions on the things that I'm writing about! They're truly enlightening!_


	12. Hinderance

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters. But if I did, there would be a legit way to capture Deoxys, Mew, and Arceus within the games without getting an event downloaded onto your consul.

* * *

Ho-oh's left wing had been damaged significantly by his scuffle with the beasts, as far as Morty could tell, but he wasn't sure how it had been hurt. Like a mechanic working on a car, Morty was sprawled on his back beneath it, studying what was possibly wrong. Beneath him the ground was hot with volcanic activity, but no one had known Mt. Chimney to erupt violently enough in the past 100 years for the lava to get past the caldera.

The vast wing was propped open atop a boulder so that the Gym Leader could get a good look at it. "I must say you really did a number on yourself back there," Morty said, reaching up to gently straighten feathers stained with Ho-oh's gore. "I can't quite tell what the problem is, though. I'm no doctor."

Ho-oh experimentally twisted his wing and winced. _It isn't the wounds, _he said, his mental voice surprisingly high and almost musical. _I think I wrenched something when I tried to slam all of those ghosts out of the air._

Wrenched muscles. Morty suddenly realized how very mortal this creature was if he could wrench a muscle battling. Though the guardian of the sky was hundreds of years old, that didn't mean he was untouchable. "So how do we fix it? As I said, I'm no doctor."

Ho-oh shrugged his good shoulder. _Rest, mostly likely. Or you could try spraying it with one of your Potions or whatever it is you use to force your Pokémon to heal. I don't know if it does anything but restore HP, but at least you can try, _he suggested.

Morty reached for his bag, rummaging around in it with one hand until it closed on a durable bottle. He took it out, noticed it was a Max Potion and therefore exactly what he was looking for, and then began spraying it at the base of Ho-oh's wing. The vibrant liquid seeped into Ho-oh's feathers. "Do you feel any better?" he asked.

Ho-oh once again twisted this wing. _Hmm. It seems looser. It is much less painful to move now. _Tucking his wing to his side, Ho-oh rose to his feet in a steady manner, albeit somewhat gingerly. _I think another night of rest will do me some good before we seek those beasts out. _The bird moved toward the rim of the caldera and sat silhouetted against the setting sun.

Dusting off his legs, Morty stood up as well. He moved toward Ho-oh and sat down a few feet from the edge. Magma sluggishly churned below, bubbling at times. "We're going to go through a lot of trouble in the coming days, aren't we?" he asked Ho-oh, absentmindedly running his fingers over a bandage on his cheekbone.

Ho-oh crowed with laughter, his external voice much harsher than the one he talked to Morty with. He replied, _Oh, certainly. Better bring plenty of those Potions with you. I doubt that anything will be easy from this point on._

"You say that almost getting overwhelmed by a couple of tiny beasts was easy?" Morty asked, unable to help himself.

Ho-oh sighed. Nudging Morty in the chest with the tip of his good wing, he grumbled, _Insolent boy._

"Heh. No one has called me that in years."  
_Quite frankly, they should more often._

Morty and Ho-oh sat in companionable silence. After a few minutes had passed, Morty added, "You know, we'll be good friends by the time this is all over."

_In your dreams, _Ho-oh grumbled. For whatever reason, on top of this sooty volcano, the duo laughed about this, in spite of their wounds and everything that was clearly wrong in the world. Below them in the caldera, magma stewed like it might be plotting mass murder, but that didn't matter for the moment. It was as though a silent pact of "If you have my back, I have yours" had been solidified between the petulant Gym Leader and the misplaced Legendary.

But damn, was it ever hot up there!

* * *

The sun was hardly even setting on the ocean when Lyra started to doze off. Silver noticed this and felt puzzled at first. It looked like it was only around four in the afternoon, yet she kept pitching forward on Lugia's back as she attempted to not fall asleep.

After more thinking, Silver realized that they were going so far west that they had likely passed through a number of time zones. Though it looked like four in the afternoon, chances were that it felt much later to Lyra's internal clock.

Raikou noticed this and sighed. _Lyra. Go to sleep. _

She rubbed at her eyes, shaking her head in a way that made her look as young as she had when she woke Silver up that morning. Sitting up as straight as she could, Lyra remarked, "I think I'm very awake. You're wrong."

No more than five minutes later, she started nodding off once more. Raikou and Silver exchanged looks. _She actually kind of likes you. I have reason to believe you could make her go to sleep, _Raikou grumbled.

A sense of irritable defensiveness immediately overcame Silver upon hearing what Raikou had to say, especially about Lyra liking him."How do you suppose I go about that? You can't just make someone go to sleep, dumbass," Silver hissed at Raikou.

Chuffing in amusement at Silver's bluntness, Raikou gave a pointed look at the girl.

_Should she stay sitting up while she's falling asleep, she'll plow her jaw straight in Lugia's hide whenever her body gives out, _he mentioned.

Silver grumbled under his breath, but he realized Raikou was probably right. Scooting toward Lyra, he took her gently by the shoulders, hoping to get her to lay down on Lugia's back. However, he didn't account for his legs being in the way, and she fell back onto them. He didn't even have time to feel mild panic over his failed plan when she opened her eyes and looked at him curiously. Her head was a comfortable weight on his legs. "What're you doing?" she asked.

"…go the f*** to sleep, woman," he growled.

She looked up at him for a few seconds more, and then said, "All right. If you insist." She rolled over onto her side, using his legs as her pillow. Within moments, she was out.

Raikou looked over at Silver, who was not quite sure as to what the hell had just happened, and chuffed quietly. He teased, _You're not as scary as you think.  
_"Oh, shut up," Silver muttered. But he realized Raikou was right. Now that he wasn't an angry person 24/7, no one seemed to be afraid of him. That vile waitress even thought that he was hot, apparently. "I'm losing my reputation," he realized aloud.

Raikou chuffed at him again. _If it makes you feel any better, Lugia has called you all sorts of offensive names, such as…_

Silver sighed heavily and half-heartedly listened to Raikou's rambling about Lugia's apparent dislike for Lyra's rival, in spite of the fact that this was the first time the two had ever really seen each other. _This is going to be an even longer night than the one in the Dance Theatre, I think, but I'll end up bored to death instead of scared to death._

* * *

For all of the cheer and silliness Raikou flaunted as he had taunted Silver about Lugia's distaste for him, he, like Lyra, was concealing a deep and uneasy sense of concern. Ever since Suicune had gone travelling with the strange country girl with blue hair, he had felt somewhat uneasy. Since she and the girl—he suddenly remembered that this girl was Lyra's cousin—had run off nearly four years ago on their own travels, he'd been uneasy for a long time.

He and Entei had been ripped from the comfort of their home in the Burned Tower by a strange disturbance that neither Pokémon could really put his paw on. Entei hadn't even explained where he was going before charging west, melting the snow where his paws touched the ground. Raikou, on the other hand, had put his nose to the ground more locally. Near the Bell Tower he'd picked up Lyra's scent and read emotions in it that let him know that something was wrong. In the way that Kris and Suicune had bonded to each other, Raikou had taken heavily to Lyra, but unlike Suicune, he'd refused to give himself up to cater to a human's whims, even to a human as considerate and gentle as Lyra. He understood that Suicune was not owned by Kris, but she might as well have been for the way she constantly obeyed Kris's orders and wishes.

Anyway, the point was, Raikou had become worried about Lyra and went to seek her out.

When he'd finally caught up to her, he'd learned a lot from, again, putting his nose to the ground, along with an ear, so to speak. The ghosts of the Burned Tower sought him out to tell him what exactly had happened to Lyra; after all, many of the ghosts had observed what had happened that night. It had taken Raikou more self-control than he knew he had to not electrocute all of them for not attempting to intervene, even if he knew that the ghosts would've been in even more danger than Lyra and the rest of her Pokémon.

The sea was as smooth as the surface of a pearl and looked all the deadlier for it as Lugia continued his speedy journey across the ocean. Night had finally fallen, in spite of the phenomenon presented by the continual crossing of time zones. Silver had dozed off, hands clasped behind his head as he lay on the glittering carpet presented by Lugia's feathers. Even in sleep he seemed a little on-edge. Raikou noted with amusement that Lyra was using his stomach for a pillow now. _They're most definitely in love with each other. Hopefully after this trouble with the beasts and Lyra's missing Pokémon is over, they can just spend some time alone on a beach in the Hoenn, relaxing…or other things, _Raikou added silently to himself with amusement. Even when Silver had been a grouchy loser, he could tell by the way Lyra talked about him and the scents that came off of her when she came to visit him and Entei that she was quite fond of him.

A thought that wasn't his own touched his consciousness. _Raikou, there are words that Lyra once taught me. Apparently young human females use these often to describe…pairings, so to speak, _Lugia said. Raikou looked away from the sleeping humans and noticed Lugia glancing over his shoulder at him.

_What sort of words are these? _Raikou asked, stretching leisurely. His tail lashed as he did, flicking one of Lugia's back flaps.

Lugia gave him an irritated glower before responding, _Shipping, Raikou. As in two look at two people and think of them to be perfect for each other in a relationship of some sort. You are shipping Lyra and Silver romantically, for example._

_Oh, what other words are there? _Raikou asked. However, before Lugia could answer, the night was split with a horrible, grating scream that seemed to rock the stars in their courses.

Silver's eyes snapped open and he gently shifted Lyra, who hadn't been disturbed at al by the sound, back to his legs as he blearily regained his bearings. "Dare I ask what the hell that was?" he slurred, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

_Trouble, _was all Lugia replied.

Raikou sighed and craned his neck to see around Lugia. He balanced on the narrower part of Lugia's back, the part between his wings that led to his neck, and squinted into the darkness. His night vision was good, but distinguishing the obsidian ocean from the sky was becoming increasingly difficult. _I can't see a thing. Lugia, what's going on? _He asked flatly.

_I sense a hoard of Pokémon that feel like volatile ghosts…but they are not necessarily ghost Pokémon. I believe that the reign of the beasts is creeping over the ocean now, _Lugia responded in a desolate voice. _We're in for a dangerous flight here, everyone. I apologize._

With that, Lugia swooped low, low enough that waves slopped under his belly and sprayed Raikou with salty water. Behind him, Silver groaned. Raikou figured he was getting an unwanted bath as well. "Why are we flying low? What are these 'beasts'?" Silver asked.

_From what I've been able to tell from the things I've heard from the ghosts, they're Pokémon that don't quite act like they should after being wrangled up by a Dusknoir. A lot of them were ghosts, but some aren't, and I'm not sure what the correlation is yet. Plus, since the information is entirely word-of-mouth, I don't know if it's that reliable, _Raikou explained, charging electricity in his mane. Few were aware that, using a buildup of energy in his storm-cloud mane, Raikou was able to take to the air for short periods of time. If worse came to worst and a battle between the beasts and the travelers was at hand, Raikou would be able to use this to his advantage against flying enemies.

"Lyra's Glaceon…do you think she was turned into one of those?" Silver asked, looking down at his sleeping rival with badly disguised unease. "If she was captured by Dusknoir, then isn't it pretty damned likely that we're now hunting down some monster?"

As it always seemed to work, all hell broke loose before Raikou could answer that. Out of seemingly thin air, a strange Pokémon with murky fur, red markings, and intensely-glowing red eyes fell from the sky and onto Lugia's back. Raikou recognized it as a Zangoose, but it was like no Zangoose he'd ever seen. Its fur was ill-kempt and both its jaws and claws looked jagged and deteriorated. With a diseased-sounding battle cry, it charged at Lyra and Silver.

Raikou moved forward to protect the two humans, but it seemed like Silver was already on that. He pushed Lyra off of his legs and got to his feet. Just as the beast was about to claw him, he kicked out, sending it sprawling to Raikou's feet. Grabbing it in his fangs, he threw it as hard as he could over the side of Lugia's back. Lugia was flying at such a speed that no one observed the splash the Zangoose made.

It was now that Lyra woke up. "What's going on…?" she asked.

Silver pulled her upright and growled, "Call out Pokémon. Now. We're being attacked."

Lugia added darkly, _There is a massive cloud of them in the sky. It is likely that they're currently intangible like regular ghosts are, but it worries me that I did not sense it before. They are over the top of us now. More of those beasts are coming._

"Beasts?" Lyra asked as she called out her Xatu and her Typhlosion for battle. Silver followed suit, releasing his Crobat and his Magnezone.

On cue, many beasts of varying forms appeared, swooping at Lugia's head and charging at his passengers.

* * *

Lyra wasn't quite sure of how to react to being woken up by an odd noise and then learning that they were under attack from something that everyone else called "the beasts" and then finding herself face-to-face with the Pokémon Dusclops that evolved into the species that stole her Glaceon. Except…it looked more monstrous than the one she saw on Silver's Pokedex. It looked like it was stained with gore and its single eye glowed mercilessly. It also looked like its body was undergoing decomposition, kind of like a zombie. "Typhlosion, Fire Punch! Xatu, go help the others out however you can!" Lyra ordered. She might've been asleep only moments before, but the adrenaline-filled rush of battle worked better than a caffeinated drink when it came to waking up the former Champion.

Typhlosion slugged the Dusclops in the face, sending it reeling backwards. Meanwhile, Lyra noticed a pair of smaller ghosts nearby with sharp claws and gemstone eyes that scattered crimson light around them. "Hit all of them with Flamethrower," Lyra commanded. She ducked out of the way of what looked like a Golbat with tattered wings and rotted fangs as Typhlosion blasted the unlucky ghosts with the powerful stream of flame. _Odd. All of the other enemies so far have been ghost Pokémon, not some species like Golbat. _The smaller ghosts fell over Lugia's side. Lyra winced at the thought of falling like that, even if these creatures were more decrepit and vile than what she was used to seeing in a Pokémon's physical appearance. The Dusclops unluckily staggered into Magnezone, who shocked it hard enough with a Thunderbolt attack (ordered curtly by Silver, who was attempting to get his Crobat to stop biting the evil-looking Duskull in its jaws and throw it overboard already) that it collapsed, sliding off of Lugia and into the sea. As this occurred, Raikou practically fried about seven ghosts with a massive cloud of electricity. She had to hand it to the Legendary. For all of the love Entei got about his power and Suicune about her grace and endurance, he seemed to have the best of both worlds as he battled.

"Lugia! Raikou! How're you holding up?" Lyra called over the din of battle.

Raikou merely nodded at her and slashed at a nearby Pokémon with the sharp tip of his tail. Lugia, however, had a thing or two to say. _All I will say is that you should not bite at them when they fly at your face. They taste terrible, _he responded as he thrashed a legion of balloon-like ghosts out of the way with his sinewy neck.

Lyra wanted to laugh, but she was bombarded by more ghosts. _Dammit, _she thought. She quickly re-engaged Typhlosion with more fiery attacks, but she realized that Typhlosion would quickly tire out on her own. She figured that Quagsire had the best stamina of all of her Pokémon—and was also one of her lightest ones. He wouldn't impact Lugia's flight too much. Quickly calling him out, she engaged him with the move Earth Power, wiping out a wave of smaller ghosts that had come from seemingly nowhere at all.

"This is f***ing crazy!" Silver roared nearby, swatting a crimson-eyed Natu out of his face that had gotten past his Magnezone and his Crobat.

Lyra ordered two more attacks from her Pokémon and yelled back, "I know! We gotta get out of this!" Xatu swooped over her head, nailing a Duskull with her wing. From someplace high above them, Crobat dived after the Duskull, took it in his jaws, and threw it into the ocean.

In spite of the violence, Lyra was proud of the teamwork. Magnezone shocked anything that wasn't blown away by Quagsire's Earth Power or Ice Punch while Crobat cleaned up after Xatu's pecks and Psychic attacks. Raikou didn't really need any help eliminating his enemies. The air crackled with ozone after each of his lightning attacks and his enemies were rendered entirely helpless by the crunch of his jaws.

After a minute or two more of repeated Earth Power attacks, Quagsire changed gears without Lyra's orders and detonated a Water Pulse attack that made his enemy, a small ghost that resembled a ragged puppet, release a bone-rattling scream. After commanding another Fire Punch from Typhlosion, Lyra observed with a grim sense of victory that this Pokémon was rendered entirely useless by the move. A vivid steam rose off of its skin. It fell onto Lugia's back, where Raikou swatted it off with one of his massive paws.

"Guys! They don't mix well with water!" Lyra cried.

Lugia immediately responded, _I noticed that I couldn't sense them anymore after they fell into the water, but I thought it was because we were moving too quickly. Perhaps we should dive to throw them off._

Lyra returned her Typhlosion and her Xatu. "We're going underwater!" she called to Raikou and Silver.

Silver groaned and returned his Crobat and Magnezone. He called out his Feraligatr just in time to Hydro Cannon another Dusclops away. Lyra figured that he was leery of her theory concerning the beasts and wanted a defense system for the steady trickle of ghosts and other Pokémon that kept appearing on Lugia's back. "If we drown, I'm killing you all again in the afterlife," he growled, crouching down and clinging to one of Lugia's back flaps for dear life. Lyra and the others followed suit, wondering how the force of entering the water at the speed they were going wouldn't either kill them or knock them off entirely.  
_There's no need for that, _Lugia responded. Without further ado, he dove into the ocean. Lyra prepared to feel pain from the entry and the frigid wetness presented by an ocean at night, but it never came. Lyra opened her eyes and noticed that they were protected by a bubble around Lugia's back as he swam. Around them, the ocean was a deep indigo and many Pokémon swam away from the commotion Lugia had created, but none of them were the beasts that had attacked the on the surface.

Lyra gave a heavy sigh of relief, pushing her hair off of her face. "Thank Arceus we're alright. No more zombie Pokémon down here. Thank you so much, Lugia."

_They are not zombies. Zombies cannot think for themselves; these beasts were, _Lugia responded, but his mental voice held an undercurrent of relief.

Silver, who had braced himself against Feraligatr, still hadn't quite gotten over his apparent shock. He scratched at his jaw, wide-eyed in a way that was very uncharacteristic of him, and murmured in a thin voice, "Guess they don't want us going to the Hoenn region, huh?"

Raikou chuffed. _No kidding. That was insanity._

Lyra turned to her Quagsire, whose normally dull face was filled with disturbance and worry. She reached over and patted him on his rubbery head, smiling. "Hey, you did great up there. Thanks for shooting off that Water Pulse, buddy." His expression turned happier, and she could almost see the cutesy Wooper he'd been when she'd first caught him. "You've been such a good battler all these years," she said gently.

"At least we know they hate water now," Silver said, rubbing at his neck. "That way, if we're getting swamped by them in the Hoenn, my Feraligatr and your Quagsire can use Water-type attacks."

Lyra grimaced. She hadn't liked seeing the Pokémon in pain; she only suggested that they go underwater to keep the ghosts and other beasts from attacking them. "As a last resort, all right? I don't like seeing them in pain like that," she said.

_They don't care if you're in pain, _Raikou responded.

Silver nodded in agreement. "Lyra, you heard what Lugia said. They're thinking for themselves. They're malicious bastards."

"I don't care. They don't look like they're in their right state of mind. I don't believe that there are that many Pokémon out there wanting to cause harm like that. There is no way in Hell I'm going to harm that many Pokémon in the name of saving my Glaceon," Lyra said, crossing her arms.

Raikou and Silver seemed to exchange looks; Feraligatr looked confused by the change in settings. He hadn't been out of his Pokeball in a few day and suddenly he was submerged in sheer insanity. Rolling her eyes, Lyra recalled her Quagsire and released her Typhlosion once more. "Call me an idiot or whatever, but I'll do anything I can to get her back." Yanking off her jacket, she cuddled into Typhlosion's warm side. "But I won't hurt others to do it. That's not my style. And I doubt that'd be what Glaceon wants."

The Legendary and her rival both sighed. There was no arguing with her, nor were they in the mood to tell her that there was a good chance Glaceon might just attempt to tear out her throat whenever Lyra found her again.

* * *

_A/N: Wow, for the time I spent away writing this, you think this would be a longer chapter...oh well. Welcome back everyone! Here we see a mixture of some fluff and some long-awaited action!  
_

_Some PMs I've gotten lately have asked about why Lyra doesn't have one of Togepi's evolutions or the red Gyarados. She does-they're just not in her party. Like it was mentioned in a previous chapter, she owned 100 species of Pokemon by the time she was 13, so you can only imagine how many she has now. She takes the completion of her Pokedex very seriously._

_Plus, Lyra still has no idea that her Glaceon has probably become one of the creatures she just got attacked by...it's just as frustrating for me, you guys._

_I will warn you that next update is definitely going to be slower than normal. I'm performing at a benefit concert tomorrow night with my saxophone, Friday is going to be my "holy schmoly look at all this housework that needs to be done" day, and I'll probably end up looking after my little bro during the time I do my best writing on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday through Wednesday, I'm going to a camp for editors. Yeah, I'm an editor of a student-run literary anthology at school, so we sit around and talk about bad submissions and whether or not fanfiction is a legitimate category in the book. I might get to write at night there, but I'll make no promises. So hopefully I get a ton of writing done tomorrow and then edit Saturday night to post so you guys aren't waiting a week or more for the next update._

_I'd like to take a moment to just thank my followers. I'll list y'all off in this author's note because I just really love you guys and appreciate the level of interest you show in this story: Athrune, EatinUrSoulz, ImaginationIsAwesome123, JTC2000, Mespirt, RadicAngel, Shin H. Vega, StellaMuffins, The Trio of Twilight, espeonlover, ileannxx1, pony of purple, and rosie2322. You're all fabulous! Those of you who review consistently are really fab also.  
_

_I'd like to make a special mention of StellaMuffins, my first follower and reviewer, and to Shin H. Vega, because you've been very kind in reviews and PMs. _

_Anyway, leave a review! It can be positive or negative...I just like some form of feedback! _


	13. The First Steps

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, it would have been stated explicitly in the games that Silver is Giovanni's son and not through some event that was downloaded onto the games before I even picked up my copy of SoulSilver.

* * *

Home in Kris's eyes was on Route 26, a grassy but steep pass overlooking a river and surrounded with wild Ponyta. Sitting side-saddle on Suicune's back, she observed the route from the top of the mountain that housed Tohjo Falls. Together, the companions straddled the Kanto and Johto regions. From up here, she could see the tiny house on the ridge, the only one for miles around. The windows were warmly lit against the chilly grayness of dusk.

_Remind me why we are visiting your mother, _Suicune grumbled, flicking her mane out of the way. _She is a lovely woman, but how can she help us if we're looking for Entei and Raikou?_

"Entei and my ma were close when she was a kimono girl. She would know if he's taken off somewhere weird," Kris replied. Suicune began bounding down the mountainside, leaving Kris with her thoughts. Lyra's mother and Kris's mother, fraternal twins, were taken in as kimono girls at the young age of eleven due to their unusual grace and maturity handed down to them from their mother before them. Kris's mother, Rina, stayed as one until she was twenty-three and married the man who could become the father of her two daughters, Kris and Eliza. However, Lyra's mother, Chiyo, had been headstrong and left at sixteen. She pursued her goal to become a top Pokeathlete, ended up marrying at eighteen after being a modestly popular Pokeathlete for a year and a half, and ended up going to college to be a doctor for humans instead. Kris figured that she and Lyra took more after Chiyo than Rina; Rina had always been so passive and gentle while Chiyo was restless and ambitious.

Suicune darted over the water. She was condensed grace; nothing was more elegant and coordinated as she was. _You are thinking about many things again, aren't you?_

"My family, Suicune. I love my family," she said, resting against her neck.

The rest of the trip was silent. Suicune carried them across the water and bounded up the ridge until Kris was close to the place she'd grown up. Startled by the appearance of the girl and her Legendary companion, a small herd of Ponyta darted away from them. "Sorry, guys!" Kris called as Suicune carried her straight to her doorstep, paws sliding against the ground slick with a mixture of snow and mud.

_Shall I wait outside? _Suicune asked as Kris dropped to her feet.

"Nah. You're family. C'mon in," Kris said, tugging at Suicune's mane playfully. "Besides, I reckon Eliza wants to see you."

_I doubt that, _Suicune answered, but by the time Kris knocked on the door and the frantic patter of feet responded, it was too late for her to leave without leaving a scene of oddly kicked-up snow behind her. The door was flung open, and Kris's mother Rina stood in the light of the doorway. Kris didn't look much like her dark-haired, dark-eyed mother with full curves and lips that would've once been considered pouty. She took more after her strong-featured, blue-haired, and gruff-looking father, especially since she was so beat-up at the moment. Rina's eyes lit up at the sight of her older daughter. "Kristina!" she cried, a huge grin spreading across her features as she embraced her daughter. Rina looked over Kris's shoulder to notice Suicune standing behind her. "And Suicune, nice to see you, too."

"Hi, Ma!" Kris chirped, grinning from ear to ear. Nudging Suicune, she said, "Say something nice to Ma."

_A pleasure, _Suicune said cagily.

They were invited into the house. It was a tiny, warm place, well-lit against the darkness of a winter's evening. Wooden floors were draped in rugs and walls were painted in bright blues and greens. The living room and the kitchen were obscenely tiny, and the two bedrooms branching off were just as small. Sometimes Kris had a hard time believing that she and Eliza had ever shared a bedroom when they were younger whenever she came back home.

As soon as they entered the sage-green living room, Kris's other two family members looked up at her and Suicune with some shock. Eliza, Kris's thirteen-year-old sister, set down the book that she'd been reading on the beat-up loveseat, pushed her glasses over eyes an even paler shade of blue than Kris's, and greeted, "Well, if it isn't the wanderer, home at last." Eliza had spoken in painfully intellectual ways since she'd started reading and often used faintly sardonic means of communicating her irritation, taking after her mother's heavily-ingrained kimono girl attitude.  
"Not for long, I ain't," Kris retorted tetchily. She and Eliza had never gotten along very well due to their conflicting personalities and ideals.

"Aren't you gonna say hi to your pa?" Rising from the armchair was a barrel-chested man with a shock of graying blue hair and pale blue eyes like Eliza's. This man was Kris's father, a man named Robert. He was a true "country boy", and sometimes Eliza and Kris used to conspire when they were younger as to how he'd ever wooed over their mother when she was clearly far more elegant than he could ever manage. They went as far as to wonder whether or not it was an arranged marriage, but they figured the two were too loving of a couple to have a marriage that was the product of someone else's decisions.

Kris grinned and waved at her father. "Hey, Pa!"

"You're looking kinda rough there, kiddo," he acknowledged, assessing her from head to toe. Then, he noticed Suicune. "You brought Bluey in the house with you?"

Kris reached back and patted Suicune's head crest. She could sense her silently seething rage at the nickname Robert had given her when Kris first proudly introduced her companion. "Yeah. Didn't wanna leave her out in the cold, y'know!"

After getting caught up from a few months that had passed without seeing one another, Kris decided it was time to get down to business. "Ma, we came here because we need to talk to you about something."

Rina looked at her and raised a single eyebrow. "Oh? What do you need to talk about?"

"How she never got boobs?" Eliza commented snidely.

Robert gave her a pointed look. "Show your sister a little respect. Remember, she's got Bluey on her side. Bluey could rip you a new one."

_I would happily do that, should she continue insulting the things you have no control over, _Suicune commented privately to Kris, earning a private grin from her human friend.

Rina sighed. "Okay, Robert, Eliza, I'd love it if you cleared out of here for a bit."

With a nod from the former and grumbling from the latter, Kris's father and sister left the room. Studying her daughter, she mentioned, "You and Suicune look really rough, love. What really happened to you?"

"Well, Ma…" Kris explained what had happened in the Hoenn, collapsing into her dad's armchair in the middle. Suicune sat primly in the middle of the living room, occasionally throwing in her own comments about the events. "…and so we're looking for Entei and Raikou now, and you know a lot of stuff about Entei. We could go looking for him first, so…yeah," Kris petered out awkwardly.

_Actually, Kris, it would only be Entei that we are looking for now, _Suicune interjected.

Kris glanced at her with a heavy sigh. "Shouldn't you have told me this before we went and said all that to Ma?"

_Raikou is safe, _she said, dipping her head. _I have just felt it. I doubt that we need to search for him now._

Rina tossed her loosely-braided hair back over her shoulder. "So…Entei, then. You want to know about my old friend and his habits?"  
"Please," Kris said, massaging the back of her neck. "What's he like?"

Crossing her legs, Rina gazed thoughtfully at the wall opposite her. Slowly, she began, "I always visited the Burned Tower when I first arrived in Ecruteak City alongside my sister, your aunt Chiyo. She would always go flirt with the local boys in her free time, but I was a very shy, quiet girl, and I was not as pretty as she was when I was young. I didn't hate her for it, though I did feel like I held her back if I went with her when she sought out boys to talk to. I would go into the Burned Tower with my beloved Umbreon. My first time there, I was shocked to see three Legendaries sleeping there when I went down into the basement…Suicune, Raikou and…"

* * *

_"Entei…" Rina breathed, staring wide-eyed at the third member of the Legendary trio sprawled on the mound in the center of the Burned Tower. He resembled a dormant volcano, his hot breath biting into her skin even at this distance. Rina could hardly stand, her knobby knees shaking at the sight of the massive beast. Her Umbreon butted his head against her hip, trying to get her to move once more, but she was frozen by the imposing beauty and lethality the Pokémon presented even as they slept._

"The first few times I went there, they never stirred. Many times, I'd talk to them about my problems and my triumphs," Rina explained to her daughter and Suicune. These memories, aged thirty years at this point, were as fresh in her head as the first winter snow. It was odd to her, talking to Kristina about them after all of this time. Her older daughter had always known about her bond with Entei back in Rina's kimono girl days, but it was only now that she wanted to know, and out of importance only. It reminded her of a day in the guts of the decimated tower.

_"Sorry to bother you so often, you three, but…I'm just really insecure, and I don't have people I want to talk to about it," she murmured, sitting down with her back to the base of the dirt mound. "Today, Chiyo brought me with her to meet up with some boys in town. There were three of them, and they were all older than us—fourteen or fifteen, I'll bet. I wasn't comfortable, and they were all taking their turns flirting with Chiyo. I mean, she's so beautiful, I can't blame them. She could easily pass for fifteen years old already, and I'm just…me. Plain, boring old me. When they finally noticed I was there, they treated me like a little kid and making all these rude comments, asking how I could be Chiyo's twin and calling me a prude. Chiyo didn't get why I was mad, and I ran off. You guys probably don't understand that. You're all big and tough, and I want to be like you guys…"_

_ Rina glanced behind her, looking at the three Pokémon. Entei's face twitched in his sleep, but otherwise there was no indication that they'd been listening._

_ "Well. At least you guys don't yell at me for talking to you about things like this. That's something to be grateful for."_

"The day before Chiyo and I turned twelve, things changed. I went down there, as Chiyo and I had a huge argument about how she never had time for her own twin and her Jolteon, feeling like I was threatening her beloved Trainer, attacked me with both her fangs and her electricity. So I fled to the place, holding my bleeding hand to my chest and the shock from Jolteon had put me into a very sad, strange sort of state…"

"_I want to go home!" Rina was on her knees, trying to staunch the bleeding in her hand with a scrap of fabric torn from her own shirt sleeve, crying hysterically. Collapsing into a ball in front of the mound, she sobbed on the ground. "My own sister hates me! No one likes me around here! Why the hell do I even try?" she lamented. More than anything, she wished the heat of Entei's breath was the comfort of a body that would embrace her when she felt sad, or that Suicune and Raikou's gentle snores were words of comfort in her ears._

_Drying her tears on her good arm temporarily, she glanced at the three dormant Legendaries. "I just really need someone. Please. Anyone," she whispered. She lost it again and broke down into a mixture of furious and desperate sobs that echoed like mocking Murkrow in the empty Burned Tower._

_A few minutes later, Rina heard something shift behind her. She thought she was imagining things, that the large surge of electricity through her system had made her paranoid, but then the heat rolling off Entei's breath became a steady thing. Suddenly, a warm, large paw touched her back. _I am sorry, _said a low, gentle voice in her mind. It was a very fatherly sort of voice to the young kimono girl, but it startled her, nonetheless. Rina scrambled to her feet at the two sensations and found herself gazing upon the furry, brown bulk of a very-much awake Entei. He looked down at her, kindness warming features that otherwise looked deadly._

"_E-Entei…" Rina garbled, scrubbing tears furiously away from her face._

Rina, _he said gently, leaving his resting place on the mound and leapt off to stand beside her. _I have heard everything you ever told my companions and me.

"_I…I'm so sorry. I d-didn't mean to burden you three with this," she said, scrubbing at her eyes. _

_Entei shook his head, tossing his mane impressively. With a regal air, he sat on the floor, watching the young human with his intense eyes. _Come here. You are lonely. Sit with me.

_Rina obliged, sitting next to him. It didn't take long for her to cuddle into his shaggy, smoke-scented fur, even as they sat in silence. What Rina didn't know then was that it was the beginning of an important friendship, one that would help her mature into a much-stronger woman and leave Entei a changed Pokémon himself._

"That was how we ended up friends, actually. I wasn't scared of him like many others had been before me, and he was touched by the fact that I came and talked to them every single day, even if they never said anything back," Rina said, smiling gently. The memory, though painful when she'd acquired it, made her smile now. "He was always very genuinely kind. Your friend Suicune is kind, too, but admittedly, she is definitely an ice queen."

_I cannot be a cuddly Teddiursa like Entei or a gossipy little school girl like Raikou. It is not in my nature, _Suicune responded coolly, earning a soft chuckle from Rina and a loud guffaw of laughter from Kristina.

Sighing, she gazed out the window behind her. A borealis, rare at this time this far south in the winter, filled the sky with pale green and salmon. "As Suicune was getting at, Entei was very gentle, sweet Pokémon once you really got to know him. He didn't suffer fools gladly, and he gave me excellent advice at how to get people to quit making fun of me when I was younger. He only left the tower with me twice; once, I showed him my childhood home in Azalea Town and the Slowpoke well. The other time, it was to come to the wedding when your father and I got married. He obviously didn't stay for cake," she added with a light laugh. "Entei thought he was extremely dangerous, far more dangerous than Suicune, who gusts like the wind, or Raikou, who can sear the air with electricity wherever he goes. He wouldn't leave the Burned Tower unless there was a grave situation somewhere.

"So…did he want to go anywhere?" Kris asked. Obviously her daughter was calculating where the Pokémon would've gone to and where she and her Legendary companion might look for him.

Rina scratched at her cheek. "Mt. Stark in the Sinnoh and Mt. Chimney in the Hoenn appealed to him. He was curious to see whether or not his roar really did make volcanoes erupt or if that was just a legend. But he would never have tried doing anything to places that Pokémon and people live close to."

Something seemed to flash in Kristina's eyes at mention of the Hoenn. Rina knew it had to do with what her daughter encountered in that region. "If you head back there to look for Entei, please make sure you can't find trace of him here first or that he isn't going to do what Raikou did and suddenly show up as safe on Suicune's radar."

_I will keep your child rational, _Suicune said.

The discussion ended, and Rina saw her oldest daughter and Suicune out the door once more, once Robert and Eliza got to say their goodbyes. "What was that all about?"Eliza asked. "You look sad, Mom."

Rina realized that, indeed, there was a grim set to her mouth. She was deeply worried about her old friend and also concerned about her daughter's roughed-up state. Had it been a trick of the light, or had the bandages on Kristina's hands been stained with dried blood? "Oh, nothing you need to worry about, Eliza."

Rolling her eyes, Eliza snatched her book off the couch and headed back to her room. "I'm going to get ready for bed, then. Goodnight."

Robert and Rina exchanged glances as their daughter walked off. "She and Kris are as different as you and your sister," Robert remarked, rubbing at his sideburn as if it could offer him some solace at the opposite directions his children had taken in life.

"At least my sister and I became friends in the end," Rina murmured, "though, for many years, we were not pleasant to one another."  
Robert wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder and tugged her back into the living room. "C'mon, you. Let's cozy up. It's a cold night out there."

"All right."

* * *

"Where did you lose his scent at when we were tracking Entei's smell, Suicune?"

_We lost all signs of him on the shore of Cianwood. _

"D'you think he's in this region at all?

_I doubt it at this point, Kris._

"…are we going back to the Hoenn after we just left that place?"

_Yes. Besides, we could team up with Raikou. I feel him travelling in that direction_

"Dammit."

_Prepare for another long day of travel. _

"You know me. Super prepared always."

* * *

It must have been morning, because Silver's eyes fluttered open to a bright light filtering around him. Sitting up and massaging a crick in his neck, he remembered that he was underwater on Lugia's back with Lyra and Raikou. _If shit gets any weirder, I want a refund on life. _He glanced around, noticing Lyra asleep, curled into the warm curve of Typhlosion's belly. Raikou was awake, but like they had the night before, they were having a private conversation.

Silver resigned himself to looking at the sea around him. The Pokémon had changed overnight. He noted the Pokémon Relicanth with a heavy sigh. Others he didn't recognize. A long, beige Pokémon with pink appendages coming out of its head swam past. He took out his Pokedex with the hopes of figuring out what it was. It came up as the species Milotic. Apparently, it evolved from an even uglier, rockier-looking Water-type Pokémon than Relicanth, and it only evolved with a certain kind of scale or when its Beauty condition was maxed out. "That's a weird way to evolve," he muttered to himself.

"Where did you get that Pokedex?" came Lyra's voice, sounding a little bleary at this time in the morning.

_What was that about her being asleep? _The snide little voice in the back of his mind said.

Silver twisted around to face Lyra. "I apologized to Professor Elm for stealing Feraligatr when he was a Totodile a few weeks after Lavender Town. And he saw that Feraligatr was actually pretty happy with me, so he pretty much just sputtered something about 'ask first next time' at me and then he threw this Pokedex at me. Said that I deserved one for making Feraligatr that strong," he explained.

Lyra smiled. "I heard you did that, but I had no idea he gave you a Pokedex. That's quite the accomplishment"

"I didn't want it, but whatever," he responded, shrugging. Secretly he reveled in the pride Lyra displayed at his accomplishment. He found it odd that, suddenly, he wasn't feeling bad about things like that. Also, he didn't even feel horrible over giving her attention and vice versa now.

Raikou looked back at them. _Oh. You're both awake. I'd like you to know we'll be in the Hoenn in about two hours, actually. Lugia might have said a day and a half, but he is actually a much faster swimmer than he is a flier after all of his years spent without flying._

Silver sighed. "But he's not even a Water-type. He has _wings._"

_You of all people should know that just because you are born to one thing does not mean you can become great at something else, _Raikou responded, flicking his tail side to side. Silver felt his face get hot at Raikou's obvious reference to his birthright.

He glowered at Lyra. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?" Lyra asked, eyes wide.

Groaning, Silver turned out once more to face the sea. A massive blue Pokémon with a pale belly and a huge tail swam past. His Pokedex identified it as a Wailord. "Forget it," he muttered.

"If you insist," Lyra said, clearly shrugging before entering a conversation with Raikou.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. At one point, Lugia pointed out that they were passing under a floating town. Everyone craned their necks to see the undersides of floating platforms, along with the shapes of human boats and some human swimmers. The pink coral Pokémon Corsola were unmistakably present in abundance under this town. "That's awesome. What town is that?" Lyra asked.

_I have no idea. Aside from the port cities, I only know geographical locations in this place, _Lugia responded.

No more than an hour after this, Lugia slowed. _I am going to let you off near the shore of the city known as Slateport City. Your Pokegear will reprogram itself to give you a Hoenn map. The place you are looking for is north, in the mountainous jungles to the east of a town made in the trees. It's called Mt. Pyre, _he explained. _I am not sure if you were aware of that, but it is the place where the ghosts live in the Hoenn. Before you ask, I was not going to willingly let you off any closer to Mt. Pyre; the city near it is plagued with ghosts right now._

"Thank you. I really do appreciate this," Lyra acknowledged, rubbing his back kindly. "Get some rest sometime soon, okay?"

_You are welcome. I shall rest whenever I return home, _Lugia said. _I must warn you, it is eighty-seven degrees Fahrenheit outside of the water. You will need to acquire new clothing if you do not want heatstroke._

Silver shot Lyra a glance. "Were you prepared for that?"

"I have one pair of shorts that hardly fit me anymore. We might need to go shopping when we get into Slateport City," she admitted sheepishly.

Silver sighed. They'd just gone from the bitter chill of a Johto winter to a place so tropical that they needed to wear shorts in February. "Really can't wait to see this place in its full glory," Silver said sarcastically.

"Ah, that's the spirit."

* * *

Tourists and residents of Slateport city alike glanced at the odd pair walking along the beach, looking fairly sweaty in spite of it being only nine in the morning. The boy, red hair in a knot at the nape of his neck, carried a leather jacket in his arms, leaving him in a thermal shirt better suited for frigid temperatures with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His jeans were also rolled up like capris. Alongside him was a petite girl with chestnut hair hanging loose around her face. Like her companion, she had a jacket in her arms, but it was accompanied with a bulky sweatshirt. She was left in a tank top and jeans that she, too, had rolled up to her knees. They were both pale like they'd just gone through a sunless, unrelenting winter. Likewise, neither of the individuals were wearing shoes.

Lyra chuckled at the people staring at them. "If Raikou could come with us to see this, he'd be laughing his butt off at how people are looking at us," she said, grinning. The Legendary detoured and decided to wait for them outside of the city near a Bike Path advertised by a billboard on the beach.

Silver glowered at her. "Let's find a shop with shorts and t-shirts quick before I really begin to hate this region."

"Oh come on. We're not even near Mt. Pyre and the trouble there and you already hate this region?"

"I don't think I'm supposed to enjoy being cooked."

"Shall I throw some lemon on you?"

"Shut up, Lyra!"

"Oh, right you're already sour."

"I'll show you sour."

"Maybe we'll throw some spicy and sweet barbecue sauce on you instead, eh?"

"Shut it, Hannibal."

The rivals exited the beach and begin their hunt for a clothing store to shed their extra layers in the superheated Hoenn region.

* * *

_A/N: I did it! I updated exactly thirteen hours before I have to leave for camp! Whoo!_

_So I'll actually have my computer at camp, by the way, but probably no internet access, so I'll be writing...but you won't see another update until late in the upcoming week, hopefully before next weekend. _

_This chapter ended up a little slower than I meant it to, and it's also more of a filler than I meant it to be. I just wanted to show a little slice of what Kris's home was like and also what her mother and Lyra's were like when they were younger. Plus, Entei. 'Nuff said. Anyway, Rina was a woman who was very much graced by puberty and good friends, like the guy who played Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter. _

_But how did Rina end up with a blue-haired country guy like Robert? You'll never know...  
_

_So a lot of my older characters in this story, especially those native to the Johto, will have Japanese-sounding names. The Johto was such a Japan-centric region in the games, and there's a lot of talk about modern vs. old in the games (like the modern looks of Goldenrod City and Olivine City vs. Violet City and Ecruteak City). So I guess I'm trying to inference that with the modernization and westernization of the region came new names and cultures. So this is why Chiyo has a daughter named Lyra and Rina's kids are named Kristina "Kris" and Eliza when they themselves possess really Japanese names. (My headcanon for those two is that their mother was from a long line of pure Johtonese people and their father was some businessman who became enamored with the region after meeting their mother)._

_I really love Entei, too, you guys. Oh my. He and Raikou fight for a lot of space in my heart (sorry, Suicune, you're pretty, but what's pretty to metallic moustaches and billowing smoke/cloud manes?). I hope you don't mind my headcanon for Entei being very gentle and kind. Something really gets me about tough, masculine-looking guys who are really just giant teddy bears on the inside. I figured Entei was a good channel for that idea._

_Anyway, thank you again, my reviewers/followers/favoriters! You're keeping me going while I figure out how to write out the upcoming part of the story and how to balance action and fluff and dialogue. You should all give yourselves a nice pat on the back.  
_

_Leave a review! I love hearing your opinions. You're all funny and thoughtful people!_


	14. Water, an Ally

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, the RSE remakes would make it less difficult to make the Pokeblocks needed to max out on a certain condition for Contests...because I never even won the Master Rank in those games.

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to Marco's Seaside Shop!" called the shop attendant cheerfully as Lyra and Silver burst into the air-conditioned store.

Lyra smiled at the attendant, a sunburned, lavender-haired woman in her twenties decked out in a red bikini covered by a tan cover-up.

Silver looked around coolly. It certainly was a seaside shop. Decked out in shells and sand dollars, the shop was extremely blue and white. Thankfully, the clothes didn't seem to follow the color scheme. "Yeah, you go find your stuff, I'll find mine, all right?" Silver said to Lyra. She gave a nod to him and headed off into the woman's section of the shop.

The attendant followed her, asking Lyra if she needed any assistance. _Maybe without the leather jacket I'm not appealing anymore, _he thought with a smirk. He immediately began rummaging for shorts and t-shirts in his size, throwing anything that was darker than red in his pile. He also snatched up some tennis shoes (he had stupidly only brought boots with him), along with a bottle of sunscreen. There was nothing worse than having his face ache from sunburns. The redheaded, pale-skinned trait would certainly be a curse in this sunny region.

Heading toward a fitting room in the back, he figured he had everything he needed. Meanwhile, the attendant was clearly bothering Lyra, trying to entice her into trying on impractical things like dresses and bikinis. Silver paused, pretending to look at some black swim trunks printed with red hibiscuses in order to listen in on their conversation.

"…your boyfriend would love to see you in this!" the attendant said, holding up a skimpy pink and yellow bikini. Keeping a fairly straight face, Silver tried to not picture Lyra in it and almost succeeded.

"I don't show that much skin ever! And he's not my boyfriend!" Lyra denied quickly, her face turning pink at the attendant's sly grin.

The attendant glanced his way. "I'm pretty sure he wishes he was, honey. Now, how about this maxi dress?" she asked demurely, holding up a long, low-cut cotton dress dyed in a vibrant shade of scarlet.

Silver hurried into the dressing room to change so that no one could see the immediate loss of composure in his expression. _Holy shit. Does that attendant want her to seduce me or something? _He thought, trying to slow his breathing to an appropriate rate. When he was finally able to, he quickly tried on everything, figured out what he could and couldn't bring with him, and put the rest on the return rack as he exited the dressing room. Meanwhile, the attendant had dumped a pile of clothing on Lyra that was so large it would take her at least an hour to try on everything. Silver decided it was time to intervene; Lyra was too kind to tell the attendant to stop, obviously, so he'd do it for her.

"Hey, miss," Silver said, glowering at the attendant.

She turned around in the middle of showing Lyra another bikini. This one was red with white polka dots, but in a somewhat more modest (if the word could even be used to describe a bikini) cut than the pink and yellow one. "Oh, hey there, boyfriend guy. How about this one?"

"That's not what I'm here—"

"Opinion, please," she said, her voice filled with barely-disguised malice under its sugary-sweet layer.

_Holy shit, I kind of don't want to get my throat ripped out by this woman. _"Um…red…is a good color…" Silver admitted, feeling a large amount of shame rise in his stomach. More than anything he wanted to hang his head and then punch something until he felt manly again.

She tossed the swimsuit on top of Lyra's pile. "Good! I thought so, too!"

"Um, anyway, my point is that Lyra is not comfortable with you throwing all this at her and treating her like some dress-up doll. You should stop. Now," he advised.

The attendant rolled her eyes at him and stepped aside. "Your loss. She was going to be hot after I was through with her."

"She didn't ever need your help with that. She's pretty on her own, woman," Silver growled. Snickering at his response, the attendant headed back to her spot near the front of the store. It wasn't until he noticed Lyra looking at him very oddly that he realized that he'd outright stated that Lyra was pretty and basically implied that she was hot without the attendant's help. With yet another blush spreading across his face, he garbled, "I'm gonna go pay for this shit now, okay?"

He felt Lyra watching him closely as he walked away. _Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT! _Silver thought fiercely, feeling the need to punch something inanimate. At this point, he didn't care if it hurt or not. Since he was already acting like an idiot, he might as well hurt over something idiotic, too.

* * *

Lyra cast aside most of the massive pile of clothing piled into her arms once she stepped into the dressing room and tried on the shorts, tank tops and t-shirts that weren't ridiculously feminine and flouncy. Many of the shorts fit much better and far more comfortably than any other pair of shorts she'd ever owned in her life. Examining a pair of pin-striped gray shorts in the mirror, she couldn't help but notice how they fit over her hips and around her thighs like they'd been made perfectly for her. _Guess I have a fairly common body type around here, _Lyra thought, grinning at herself in the mirror. She'd managed to shove Glaceon to the back of her mind for a moment; Silver's words to the attendant had her flying high. _Even if it is a common body type around here, it's one that Silver likes._

She didn't even question as to why she was happy that he thought she was pretty-and possibly hot. It was just a feeling that elated her in this moment.

After all of that, Lyra glanced at the pile on the bench. Her eyes picked out a few items, and she felt a depraved grin twist her features. Even if they were practically useless, there were a few things that wouldn't necessarily hurt to try on…

* * *

"What do you think is taking her so long?" Silver asked his Feraligatr in frustration as he sat on the quaint-looking benches outside of the shop. Dressed in gray cargo shorts and a dark purple t-shirt that seemed black in the shade, he felt much cooler than he had when he and Lyra first set food in this overly warm region. Also, the new shoes he got, gray and white tennis shoes with grippy treads, weren't quite his style, but it was better than suffocating his feet in the heavy hiking boots he had so intelligently wore here.

Silver's clothing troubles notwithstanding, Feraligatr gave a shrug and licked at his claws. The Pokémon earned stares from beachgoers; he was certainly not the Water-type starter that any of the individuals were used to seeing. However, that didn't bother Silver. He just felt impatient and lost, considering that Lyra was taking so long inside Marco's Seaside Shop.

Just when he decided that he might kick down the door to the shop and drag Lyra out, the saloon-style doors swung open. Languidly, Lyra swung out. She was garbed in faded jean shorts, a red and white baseball-style shirt cut off at the elbows, and white tennis shoes that hadn't seen a speck of dust in their boring life on a retail store's shelf. With her hair twisted back into a sloppy braid, she looked like a fairly average teenage girl. However, in spite of the smile on her face, there was a hard edge to her eye that lent her face some age and her expression a strength that made Silver feel as though he was younger than her. "Hey, Silver," she greeted casually, leaning against the wall next to the bench. "So we just follow the road this shop is on north through the city until we come to the exit, according to my Pokegear," she immediately began explaining. "Since we're not natives of this region and we don't have any Hoenn Gym Badges, we're not allowed to fly anywhere

Silver raised his eyebrows. Though she wasn't a country girl like Kris, she never immediately jumped straight to business. Always there had to be an exchange of pleasantries or an unrelated, shallow conversation before jumping to business. It was her way of easing any tension before entering a more important conversation. Since she forwent any of that, Silver figured that she didn't want to talk about anything that had just happened in the shop, but yet…he was a little curious about something. "Did you actually buy any of the shit she loaded on you?" he asked, truly curious.

Shrugging, she replied vaguely, "Not all of it was totally outlandish, thank you."

"Explain that."

She gave him a grin fit for a Gengar's ugly mug and darted onto the city street. "C'mon! We're on a mission, right?" Lyra called to him.

"Dammit, Lyra!" Silver called after her, quickly recalling Feraligatr to race after her. "This is how you get in trouble!"

She merely chuckled as he struggled to catch up to her. She was a blur of pale skin and shades of red in a crowd that was widely pastels and glints of darker skin tones that gleamed in the sunlight. _Well, can't lose someone as pale as she is with her choice of color in a town like this, I suppose, _he decided with an irritated huff.

* * *

Raikou sat primly in the tall grass at the edge of town, cloaking his appearance with the angle of the trees that guarded the way out of town and the height of the grass around him. Several groups of people, all tanned or sunburned, walked or biked straight past him. The stench of sweat was assailing his nose, and it was only the late morning.

Lyra and Silver were in town, buying proper attire for the always summery climate, leaving Raikou in a bit of a pickle. With his refusal to be captured, Raikou wasn't going to be carried around in some Pokeball of Lyra's, as much as he enjoyed her company. As a Legendary, it was best for him to stay out of a human's line of sight. His presence would attract attention, even if the people of this region were not familiar with his form. In short, he wouldn't let himself be seen anywhere that was largely public, like open, well-travelled paths or within the confines of towns and cities.

"So what the hell are you?" demanded a small, oddly-accented voice that grated up from Raikou's hindquarters.

Looking over his shoulder, Raikou noticed an odd, green Pokémon with a pointed tail standing proudly on short legs. He was a tiny thing in comparison to Raikou, probably standing no taller than the middle of the Legendary's striped foreleg. "I am Raikou," he answered in the language of Pokémon. As opposed to his mind's voice, this was occasionally described as vaguely feminine, his external voice was a low growl that he felt heavily in his chest.

The Pokémon gazed at him. "Well, Raikou, I don't got some fancy name, but you's can call me Electrike. We're pretty common 'round these parts, but you sure ain't," he explained, eyes lingering on Raikou's impressive mane.

He ducked his head respectfully to the small Pokémon. "You're correct. I'm not from around here. Along with two Trainers from the Johto, I'm on a hunt for a Pokémon called Glaceon."

"Ain't ever heard of Glaceon, but Johto strikes a chord in me circuits," Electrike said thoughtfully, tail wagging slowly. He added, "You know this ain't a good time for that, right? Ghosts are going nuts-o up north."

"That's why we're here, actually," Raikou admitted, his formal tones disappearing quickly as he spoke to the Electrike. His quaint mannerisms were reminiscent of Kris's. "One of the Trainers, Lyra, had her Glaceon stolen from her by Dusknoir. I've heard nothing good of what happens to the Pokémon that get captured by them. I'm afraid that we've come all this distance only to find her Glaceon as one of those beasts," Raikou admitted, resting his head on his massive paws.

"You better stop all this, too. There ain't no peace here among us Pokémon. You look like somethin' real strong, so you gotta stop all this, boy," the Electrike said, eyes flashing.

Raikou gazed at the smaller Electric-type. His fur was marred with pale scar tissue and one eye was glazed with a milky cataract; he was a veteran fighter, one who had maybe never decided to evolve. Realizing that Electrike was a fighter and wanted Raikou to do something he likely felt like he should be taking care of, he felt honored. The old warrior types didn't often admit that they couldn't take care of something. "We will," he promised him.

"Raikou!" called Lyra's voice from nearby, which was immediately followed by "Dammit, Lyra, don't yell it so loud!"

Electrike looked at him with an annoyed look. "That's the type you're working with?"

"They're very dysfunctional right now. They haven't spoken in a few years," Raikou admitted.

Electrike sighed heavily, and the tip of his tail drooped. "Best of luck, son." He wormed his way through the grass, disappearing into the tall blades. Raikou, checking for anyone nearby, bounded free of the foliage to encounter Lyra and Silver in summer wear.

_It took you two long enough, _Raikou said to Lyra, nudging her playfully with his head.

"I'm sorry. There was a shop attendant that I couldn't shake off," she answered, scratching the back of her head and chuckling awkwardly.

Silver gave Raikou a pointed look and said, "More like I had to rescue her from the attendant."

_She is rather polite, isn't she? _Raikou asked him privately, earning an eye-roll and a nod from the grumpy young man.

Lyra, meanwhile, began looking north toward the ocean-centric path that crossed beneath the bike path. Raikou almost had to laugh at how she was even paler than her rival, and it showed in the intense sun. It made him if it was from the stress of the past few days or the lack of sunlight in the winter that gave her such a pale complexion, the former option sobering him immediately. Pale-looking or not, Lyra looked determined and energized. "We'll walk on the path to the ocean and head north into Mauville City."

"What's the place like?" Silver asked warily.

"They say it's a fun, modern sort of city. They have a Game Corner, a Gym and modern architecture," she answered.

_Who would "they" be? _Raikou inquired, keeping an eye out for any more large clumps of travelers.

"While the shop attendant was checking out my stuff, I flipped through a traveler's guide on the desk of the region. We'll pass through Mauville, go west across a strait, and then show up in Mauville City," she said, crossing her arms. "It'll be easy as falling asleep."

"For someone like you who's a morning person, yeah," Silver remarked, and Raikou caught a note of teasing in it. _Yup, he's totally in love, _he thought once more, smirking internally.

Lyra rolled her eyes good-naturedly and pointed north. "Let's get moving."

Humans and Legendary alike set off toward the path on the sea. Keeping a close eye on the cyclists rolling up and down the path and also the road leading out of Slateport, Raikou felt wary. Ever since his rebirth as a Legendary hundreds of years ago, he felt like people rarely could see past the fact that he was a large and relatively magnificent-looking creature to the fact that he was also just a Pokémon. In spite of his longevity, he would die one day and Ho-oh would find another Pokémon to give the powers of thunder and lightning. Raikou couldn't even remember what he had been before the Burned Tower was struck by lightning, but it was something finite and disguisable. Now even when people didn't know whether or not he was a Legendary, it was as if they caught the stench of power on him and immediately flocked to him.

Lyra suddenly reached over to him as he padded between the girl and her rival, and she scratched at his white-tufted cheeks fondly. "I'm happy that you've decided to come with us," she said, her tone as conversational as one that she'd use with her own Pokémon. "We were worried when we didn't know if you were okay or not."

"Hey, speak for yourself. I figured he was fine," Silver corrected her over Raikou's shoulder.

_Yes, I was fine. I have no idea where Entei went, _he added to Silver's correction. Unlike Suicune, he didn't have the intuition that something was wrong with the other members of their trio. Maybe it was a woman's intuition or something that only came because of her gender, or maybe it was the fact that she was like the wind, touching any place she felt like at any given time; therefore, she always had an impression of what was going on.

They passed beneath the bike path and onto the narrow, natural bridge of a walkway that sat below the path. Raikou noticed that Silver's eyes drifted hungrily to the Pokémon that occasionally darted away from the trio. He'd take out his Pokédex and identify them. "Normal-Type," he'd mutter occasionally to the brown, striped Pokémon called Zigzagoon that scampered away in confusing lines.

_He has an issue with them, I take it? _Raikou asked Lyra.

She nodded, reaching over and stroking his neck. Raikou let out a low, throaty purr. It wasn't often that he felt such a strong sense of belonging and love from anyone, even with Entei and Suicune. Not that Suicune was such a sweetheart in the first place, but Entei had always been nice. "You have such sleek fur," she praised, finding a spot behind his jaw that made him want to lay down and demand that she keep going.

However, it was then that Lyra stopped so suddenly that Raikou nearly snarled in frustration. Lyra's stiff form told him that something important had been spotted and needed her immediate and full attention. "Oh hell no," she muttered, immediately going stiff.

"What?" Silver asked, his eyes narrowed.

_What is it? _Raikou nearly complained.

Lyra called out her Quagsire, aiming the red stream of light from his Quick Ball and leapt over the railing on the side of the land bridge. "Trouble," she responded tersely, "on the other side of the land bridge." She began heading in that direction, leaving Silver and Raikou to quickly reciprocate.

"She has to stop running off like this," Silver growled, "and for all we know, there's a little cute Pokémon over there getting bullied by a bigger one and she sees that as a crisis." He sent out his Feraligatr, awkwardly scrambled over the railing, and then paddled off after Lyra.

_Babysitting time, _Raikou decided with a deep sigh. Absorbing energy into his mane, he took off after them at a cautiously slow speed to keep a watchful eye for trouble.

* * *

"N-no, don't t-take her! She's my f-friend! I n-need her!" the young boy whimpered.

Surrounded by a quartet of strange shadows that did not act like shadows, Wally of Petalburg City stumbled toward the one that swathed his good friend and battling partner, Kirlia, in darkness and what looked like severe pain. The small, innocent Psychic-type struggled against this darkness, but it was to no avail. She was too small and too weak to free herself, just like her pathetic trainer. He felt an icy lash from one of these shadows that sent him falling to his hands and knees. "P-please," he whispered. "D-don't do this t-to her."

If only he had another Pokémon, physical strength, more courage…anything at all to benefit and help his good partner. If only he was driven like May or Brendan. If only he was as resourceful as Norman. He was frozen in the ice presented by helplessness, especially where his beloved Pokémon was involved.

"Back off, f***ers!" cried a fierce female voice. The shadows suddenly stopped, and from them morphed the ghost Pokémon Sableye, but they were unlike any Sableye he'd ever seen—they were the tattered, zombie-esque ones that rumors had been flying around about. In spite of this strangeness, Wally looked up, shocked to see a short, pale girl on the back of the stupidest-looking Pokémon he'd ever seen, with what looked like the most ragtag companions she could've found trailing behind her. "Hands off the Pokémon and the kid or else I'm going to wipe the floor with the lot of you!" she threatened menacingly. Soaring off the stupid blue Pokémon's back, she landed neatly on her feet, stalking straight toward the Sableye. She easily had five or six years on Wally, along with the irritated-looking redhead who swore irritably as he followed the girl.

The Sableye took a look at the short girl, her almost comically irritated companion, and their two Pokémon that struggled to clamber over the guardrail and cackled. Having none of this, the girl snapped, "Let the Pokémon out of those shadows. Because you know what I found out? You all hate water. It's not good for you," she said, a tight, dangerous smile contorting her features. Wally wondered where she'd gotten such bravery in the face of such a weird situation. In spite of the strangeness of this situation, he noticed that the Sableye were all muttering to one another, casting frightened looks at the human who just threatened them.

"Lyra, just get your Quagsire to use Muddy Water and get this over with. They're obviously not going to let that Pokémon go," her redheaded companion muttered to her.

She raised her eyebrows at the Sableye. "You know I can hear what you're saying, right? Doing what you're about to do is a stupid idea." Glancing over her shoulder to the bulky blue Pokémon with the pink spines along his back, she ordered, "Fire a warning shot."

The muscular Pokémon was clearly not hers, for he hesitated at firing an impressive Hydro Cannon attack that uprooted grass no more than eight feet from where the Sableye were standing under the shade of the bike path, where it once again intersected the land bridge. Cleary nervous now, the Sableye released Kirlia. She fell to her knees as they backed away, whispering and hissing to one another.

"You guys are kind of dumbasses. I mean, you're by an open sea and you can't really come in contact with water. What sort of logic is that?" the redhead growled. "Go tell whoever you're working with that we're not going to put up with this kind of shit."

With an aura of shame hanging about them, the Sableye vanished into the shadows, not to be seen again. Suddenly freed of the situation, Wally darted over to his Kirlia. "Kirlia! Are you okay?!" he cried, cradling her in his arms.

_…yes, _came her voice faintly, and she hugged him back. _All is well._

He sighed in relief, embracing her tightly, and looked up to see the two teenaged Trainers standing there, returning their Pokémon to their respective Pokeballs. "Thank you so much," he whispered, feeling unshed tears burn in his eyes.

The girl looked at him and shot him a bright smile. "No problem, kiddo. I'm just glad you and your Pokémon are okay. They would've taken her if we hadn't come, you know," she added, almost as a side note to herself.

Wally stood up, carrying Kirlia with him, and held out one hand. "I'm Wally. I'm sorry I had to be rescued like that," he apologized, feeling sheepish.

"No problem," the girl said, taking it. He noticed her eyes, a friendly shade of hazel, had a faint, reddish glow near the pupils. "I'm Lyra, and this is Silver. We're kind of here to do just that, actually."

"What she means is that one of her own Pokémon got taken away from her by ghosts so we're here to get that Pokémon back," Silver explained tersely. He seemed aloof, but not entirely unfriendly, like he was someone who spent a lot of time trying to hone the tough guy image.

_They wanted to make me like them, _Kirlia said, dragging all attention to her. _I felt it in their dark veil…the shadows were supposed to infect me with a hatred for the light and water that makes our world alive, _she added, shuddering.

Lyra reached out to Kirlia, smoothing the green, hair-like appendages on the sides of her head. There was a frown on her features. "But you're a Psychic-type, aren't you? I thought they only did that to other ghosts."

_"Ghost-type moves as well," _Silver and Kirlia said simultaneously, startling both Wally and Lyra.

Lyra shot a look at Wally, her eyes massive. "Wally. Your Kirlia…knows a Ghost-type move?"

"My uncle gave me the TM for Shadow Ball," he said quickly, feeling as though he was pinned under her intense, slightly multi-colored stare. "It's her favorite move."

"Dammit," Lyra muttered, stepping away from Wally. "Oh no. This is bad. Really, really, bad."

Silver gave Wally a look. "Give us a moment." He walked over to Lyra, who was now hunched with her arms wrapped around her stomach and shaking with what seemed like pent-up tears, and crouched down so that he below her eye level and looking up at her. There didn't seem to be any particular exchange of words between the two, but within two minutes her body began to relax and Silver once again stood. He began to rub her back between her shoulder blades in an attempt to calm her down. _Are they dating? _Wally wondered, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

_I sense great attraction from the boy. The girl is currently such a mess of emotions that I'm having trouble telling what she feels, _Kirlia told him, scratching at one of her horns in attempt to amplify her power. _But I sense…something. A sort of magnetism in her that pulls her to him, but I don't know if it's romantic attraction._

_ Interesting, _Wally thought back to her.

She nodded. _The feelings from the boy especially are far stronger than your typical Poochyena love, _Kirlia informed him. _It's strange, though…it seems as though it was a feeling that should have died, but not because of her or anyone else other than himself._

Before Wally could question what they meant, a mostly-composed Lyra walked over, with Silver following closely, and he turned his attention to them. Lyra gave him a smile that looked a little watery. "I'm sorry. It's just…I understand now what happened to my Pokémon. We should…keep going," she said, wiping at her eyes. Or maybe she wasn't as composed as she'd seemed initially. But there was pain evident in her features that didn't belong there normally.

They started on their way again, but before they got far, Wally realized he owed them something. Digging through his bag, his hand latched onto a set of strange items. "Wait!" he called, making the teenagers stop in their tracks. Darting up to them with Kirlia, he set the items in Lyra's hands. "These are Destiny Knots and Mental Herbs," he said, albeit a little breathlessly. _Talk about useless items to give them, huh? But you're broke because you're a bad battler, Wally, and this is basically all you have to your name besides Kirlia, _he told himself. "Do you know how they work?"

"If your Pokémon falls in love, the Destiny Knot makes your opponent fall in love. The White Herb snaps a Pokémon out of a strange mental state," Lyra answered listlessly, "but you don't need to give them to us. It's okay."

Silver gave her a pointed glare and then accepted the herbs from Wally. "Thanks," he said, the word coming out clipped but genuinely thankful. "We battle a lot. We could use that kind of crap. And those Sableye shouldn't bother you anymore. If they do, remember that they hate water. Jump in water if you have to. Splash them. Go where it's rainy," he said. Waving to Wally, Silver began to lead Lyra away, gripping her limp hand in one that practically popped with ligaments and veins in his anger.

"Best of luck!" Wally called after them. "I'm sorry about your Pokémon!"

Lyra managed an enervated wave, and Silver gave the boy a nod. Wally, standing in the sunlight, watched them until they left the land bridge. He didn't even notice the yellow streak in the sky that followed them, watching closely to make sure that they'd made it through their rescue of Wally safely. "Wow. I feel really bad for her," Wally whispered to Kirlia.

_I felt that she blames herself for her Pokémon's kidnapping, _Kirlia told her. _And yes. I, too, feel pain in my heart for her._

* * *

_A/N: Wow, you guys had to wait close to a week for this update. That's probably my longest time without updating so far...and I really hope it stays that was great, though; I wouldn't have missed that for the world! I have a ton of new phone contacts and actually a beta reader/editor for a fic that I'm going to restart/resume once I'm a) done with this story or b) so comfortably into a rhythm with this story that I could start writing on it at just about any time and give a little more TLC to other fic. I'm really excited about having this girl as a beta reader, too. She's awesome. Unfortunately, she doesn't have an account on this site and refuses to get one, so I can't recommend any of you to her if you need a good one...  
_

_This update would've come this afternoon, but I had to go grocery shopping and then conduct music, so I wasn't able to finish this chapter as quickly as I wanted to. And conducting music is a total aerobic workout, I'll tell you that much._

_Anyway, Lyra's kind of running ragged here, if you hadn't noticed. I hate doing this to her. She's supposed to be happy and fun. However, does this mean that Silver gets to man up a little bit? We shall find out! _

_So the store attendant is based off of a little scene in a dress shop from when I was fourteen or so and I had to try on dresses for this fancy-pants dance that they hold when you "graduate" eighth grade, and the attendant there made me try on EVERYTHING-as in from mauve, corseted formals to little blue cocktail dresses-and my mother had to rescue me. Of course, my mother didn't vaguely imply that I was possibly hot in her rebuke of this shop attendant...that would be weird._

_Once again, Raikou love all the way. He's such a cutie. He's playing parent right now, but I doubt it'll last much longer?_

_And do we sense a Silver pep-talk coming up after he leads her away from Wally in frustration...? What sort of pep-talk, you ask? I cannot tell. That's the only hint I am willing to give about the next update, which I plan on giving you guys before the end of the weekend or Monday afternoon at latest. If it's later, I probably ended up finding out I had some big project to do over the weekend. Either way, this next update will be much quicker!_

_So this story has over 1000 views, guys! Thank you so much for your love and attention! Especially those of you in Singapore! It's keeping me motivated to know about the fans everywhere!_

_Please review! I enjoy hearing your thoughts and opinions on my headcanons! Until next time, drive safe, stay warm, and remember to eat your vegetables. _


	15. Conversational

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters. But if I did, there'd be a remake of Pokemon Colosseum for the 3DS...with the option to play as a female character who rescues a helpless male in Phenac City.

* * *

It was close to noon on top of Mt. Chimney, but for all of the blistering heat and choking ash floating in the air, Morty wouldn't have known if it weren't for the clock on his Pokegear. For what he and Ho-oh were going to do, the time of day was crucial.

The large, fiery Pokémon sat on the edge of the volcano, fanning the wing he had injured. Though he did not look perfectly healthy, the wing twisted and moved much more easily than it had before. _We will be able to fly soon, _he said. _Once it is noon, the fire in me will burn hotter, and I will have more energy._

"Good," Morty said. He rummaged through his bag, wiping soot from his nose, and searched for a power bar or something to snack on when his Pokegear jangled to life. He'd replaced the rechargeable battery last night with one with a full charge so that Kuni would stop yelling at him for disappearing for days or weeks at a time, and apparently, that was what she was trying to do now.

"Morty? I haven't been able to get in contact with Lyra. At all," came Kuni's worried and agitated voice the moment he answered. "What if she's hurt or something?"

Morty almost huffed a sigh of relief when he realized that she wasn't there to yell at him. But then he felt an agonizing amount of worry swamp his system. _Lyra might be forgetful about calling other people, but if she's not even answering Kuni's calls, then we've got a problem here. _"Let's think about this rationally. She's on the road, and what if she camped out a few nights and lost battery in her phone? Then she wouldn't be answering your calls, right?"

"I'm not gonna play the 'What if?' game. I need to know where Lyra and that damned rival of hers are and if they're okay. Hell, I don't even know if they're in my region or in the Hoenn or in the f***ing Orre for all I care!" she ranted, sounding almost hysterical.

Scratching at his dirty forehead, he thought for a while. If Lyra and Silver were incommunicado, there was a chance that something bad could've happened. On the other hand, he didn't think so. For example, Lyra could very well just be travelling and lack either reception or battery. When it got right down to it, the safety of this region was more important than the safety of Lyra and her companions, anyway, as much as he hated to say it. Morty replied, "Kuni, I'm here in the Hoenn. Ho-oh and I are trying to figure out what's going on. I'm going to need you to breathe and put things into perspective. I can't go running off after Lyra and Silver, all right? Chances are that they're fine, anyway."

"You're useless," Kuni snarled, and the line went dead. Morty pulled the Pokegear from his ear and gazed at it, as if it would give him answers as to how to properly deal with the difficult kimono girl.

He turned to Ho-oh. "Well, are you ready?" he asked. "It's noon right now."

_Yes, _Ho-oh responded. Crouching down, he signaled Morty to come and get on his back. Morty gingerly clambered onto his back, trying not to aggravate his tattered back. All of the wounds had closed, but many looked gory and painful yet. _Thank you for watching your step, _Ho-oh added as Morty settled himself along his back. He wrapped his arms around Ho-oh's neck, clinging to him.

"Ready to go," he said, feeling a thrill of excitement rush through his belly. This was a scintillatingly frightening moment; neither Gym Leader nor Rainbow Pokémon knew what would happen. As of this morning, Ho-oh had only been able to take off while carrying his own weight. Something about taking a stupid risk like this, in which he might end up making Ho-oh crash, was horrifyingly attractive. He'd never had the time to do stupid things.

Ho-oh ignored the excited apprehension that Morty clearly expressed and flung himself from the side of Mt. Ember. For a few moments he fell, struggling to regain altitude. Then, his wings snapped steady and he powered upward. Morty couldn't help but let out a whoop of exhilaration as Ho-oh soared upward. This was what his childhood dreams were made of.

_Enjoying yourself? _Ho-oh commented snidely, banking hard to soar east.

Morty could only grin from ear to ear like he was nine years old again and had first read about Ho-oh in a book of legends given to him by the former Gym Leader of Ecruteak, telling him gruffly to study up. "You know I am," he said, peering around Ho-oh's neck at the land below him. It all seemed so beautiful and perfect; this was a place that needed protection and heroes.

Sitting up straighter to watch the rolling of the land beneath him, Morty added loudly, "Let's save this place. No one deserves to be plagued by ghost-beasts."

_You are acting intoxicated, _Ho-oh observed as he soared ever-higher, where the grayish clouds now became pale and pure.

Morty let out a short bark of laughter, feeling moisture from the clouds soak his sooty skin and hair. Leaning forward once more to link his arms back around Ho-oh's neck, he said, "This whole trip is an adrenaline rush for me. And you already know that I think you're one of the most amazing Pokémon out there."

Ho-oh trilled loudly; he supposed that it was his version of laughter. _You are one of my many fans. You will not be like Eusine is with Suicune, correct?_

"Well…I've never written terrible haikus about you," Morty said thoughtfully. "And I don't suppose I made a full-sized body pillow with your image on it."

_Thank you for not doing that. Horrid poetry is the worst, _Ho-oh said gratefully as they slashed through the clouds. Morty felt like the ice was now broken between him and the Legendary, for as they flew east toward Mt. Pyre, the conversation between the two was friendlier and much less businesslike. Considering that they might be the only individuals with knowledge of the problem in the Hoenn region, it felt only natural that they would be friendly with each other. If they weren't, then what sort of heroes would they be? Stories didn't possess fickle heroes that despised one another. Also, there was a reason buddy cop movies were so popular amongst filmgoers in every region, Morty mused.

And this was working up to be one hell of a buddy cop movie, that was for certain.

* * *

Lyra hadn't even realized that Silver had led her all the way to the road leading into Mauville City. It was no Goldenrod City or Saffron City; it was fairly small but glitzy, with colorful seaside buildings and small but extremely modern-looking businesses and shops. If Lyra hadn't felt so numb with her latest discovery concerning her missing Eeveelution, she would've darted off to look at various shops and gawk at the new and strange Pokémon that toddled about.

She noticed vaguely that Silver's grip on her wrist was firm and unrelenting. There was no room for compromise; something was up. The look on his face was not one that Lyra was able to read. What was he planning? He seemed to have direction, guidance, motivation…Lyra was scrabbling at thin air for something to keep her from falling to pieces with the heavy realization that Glaceon was more than likely one of the strange beasts that had an aversion to water and most likely to light as well.

"Where the hell is the Pokémon Center in this town?" Silver grumbled, pausing at an intersection of streets to glance up and down both ways. "They all have red roofs. The one in Slateport City did, so the one here better fricken have a red roof so I can find it."

_Pokémon Center? _"Why there?" Lyra asked, noticing a breathless quality to her voice that suggested that she'd been punched in the gut recently.

"You look like you're about to go into shock. I'm not gonna lie. You need to just go somewhere cool and quiet for a while and clear your head," Silver responded, a sharp note in his voice. She could only wonder if he needed to clear his head as well, because she sensed some funky tonalities in his voice that didn't quite belong there.

They reached the main road in town before the Pokémon Center came into view. Determination evident in his features, Silver picked up the pace. "Come on. Once you're thinking more clearly, you'll know what you want to do about this mess."

"I guess," Lyra responded quietly, allowing Silver's obvious frustration and resolute force to pull her along. She hated feeling helpless. For once in her life, however, it felt safe to her, letting someone else take control, even if that moment of control was just a few minutes in which Silver decided entirely upon what they would be doing.

* * *

Wally arrived in Mauville City all of five and a half minutes after Lyra and Silver did. Recovered and lively, Kirlia kept up a steady stream of chatter as she sat on his shoulder, her tone once again cheerful. However, Wally felt cold in spite of the heat. _I almost lost her, _he realized, rubbing at his mouth nervously. The incident with the terrifying ghosts was a little heavy for the ten-year-old boy.

"Wals!" called a familiar voice when he neared the Gym. He turned to see his good friend May's rival, Brendan, jogging toward him from the path leading north, toward the desert and Mt. Ember. There was no mistaking the white knit hat with the green band around it and his tetchy-looking Combusken, nor was there any mistaking the annoying nickname that Brendan had given him. "What's up?"

Forcing a smile, Wally waved at him. "Oh, nothing much. What're you doing here?"

Jogging up to the boy, Brendan stopped to catch his breath. Kirlia hopped from Wally's shoulder and started a flirtatious conversation with the Combusken. They'd always been rather fond of each other. Wally thought that it was a shame they weren't in the same Egg Group. Brendan watched the two interact for a while and then turned to Wally. "Sorry about that. I ran down the Jagged Pass. I saw something really neat."

"Don't tell me it's another shiny Zigzagoon," Wally said with a dramatic sigh. "It's always a shiny Zigzagoon."

Brendan shook his head. "No, I saw a huge flying Pokémon with red feathers and there were rainbows coming out behind its wings! It was going east" he whispered excitedly.

Wally rolled his eyes. Brendan was so fanciful; he'd probably seen a Skarmory in the strange lighting that Mt. Chimney provided. Besides, what had just happened to him and Kirlia sort of outweighed a giant red Pokémon that supposedly created rainbows when it flew. "Well, um, you've heard all those rumors about weird things going on with ghost Pokémon, right?" Wally asked, a strange, nervous sort of smile contorting his features.

Brendan watched Kirlia feel Combusken's bicep, shooting him a flirtatious smile. After a moment, he responded, "Yep. What for?"

"They're not just rumors…" Wally explained what had just happened to him, along with the appearance of the powerful Trainers. "And the girl…I think she kinda looked familiar…" He wondered why. The girl, Lyra, certainly wasn't a Hoenn native; her features were too gentle and her skin too white, but he felt like he'd seen it somewhere before.

Huffing a sigh, Brendan's expression was wild. "Never mind that! We gotta get word out to the Champion and the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders!" he exclaimed, shaking Wally by the shoulders hard. "Call May and get her to tell her dad about this, too! Professor Birch needs to know!"

Wally felt as eager…but then he came to the chilly realization that, since rumors had been flying around for at least a month and a half, if the Elite Four and the like wanted to do anything about it, they would've. He listened halfheartedly to the long list Brendan spouted off before the hotheaded young Trainer took his Combusken by the claws and charged away, fishing his PokeNav from his pocket. Many onlookers chuckled at his klutzy lack of decorum as he raced north toward the desert—essentially, where he had just charged away from.

Stricken at the sudden loss of her Combusken beau, Kirlia murmured, _At least he wants to help change things, right? _

After a moment's thought, Wally settled for, "Yeah, I guess so."

They stood in the middle of the main road, watching dust swirl in the distance. People growled for him to get out of the way or other ruder things, but Wally felt rooted. His day had started so normally in Verdanturf Town and had gone so awry so quickly. _I bet no one's ever had a day this weird before, _Wally thought to himself, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt nervously.

Seemingly out of the blue, he really hoped that Lyra would be able to get her crud together and rescue her Glaceon. And if she could, it'd be nice if she could rescue all of the ghosts from their shared predicament. Things were surely going to get further out of hand if someone didn't step up to the plate and take care of these issues soon.

* * *

As they entered the Pokémon Center, Lyra expected Silver to try and make her sit down in a corner for a while. However, with his hand still firmly holding her wrist, he marched right up to the front desk. The nurse there, a matronly-looking older woman, acquired a curious expression as Silver requested, "One room, please."

"For the two of you?" she asked in a lofty voice. "You do understand they come with one bed, right?"  
In a normal situation, Lyra would've questioned Silver's motives. However, she was trapped in a false sense of numbness that would soon collapse once more, and in this moment, she cared very little about what Silver might or might not have planned.

"It doesn't matter. We need a room."  
The nurse handed Silver a key, eyeing him and Lyra with calculation in her watery-looking eyes. He brusquely thanked her and tugged Lyra along with him to the residency hallway. "What are you trying to do here?" Lyra asked faintly.

"Privacy. You look like you're going to cry the Hoenn a new river, and I kind of have the feeling that you don't want to be in public when you do that," Silver explained. There was a sheepish note embedded in his voice, as if he didn't want Lyra to know that he was concerned about her. Not that he was doing such a great job of covering it up anyway.

They reached the room, and Silver freed Lyra in order to unlock the door. With a resounding click, the door creaked open slightly. She entered the room, and Silver followed her, shutting the door behind them. Standing opposite from each other, the two young Trainers were restlessly silent, waiting for the other person to speak.

Silver was the one to break the silence. He gestured to the bed. "I kind of rented a room so you can just sit down and cry it out or whatever."

Lyra gazed at him blankly. Currently, numbness overloaded her senses and systems; there wasn't about to be any crying here. Besides, what would it get done? It would just prove that she'd gotten weak in her time as a Champion. That was hardly Silver's problem. Noticing her blank stare, Silver gave a deep sigh. "I can leave and then you can cry."

"I shouldn't cry over this. I should think over this. What the hell makes you think I'm going to start crying like some little girl, anyway?" Lyra asked reproachfully.

"Because you look like you will, Lyra," Silver responded sharply. "So just get it out of your system, okay?"

Glaring at him, Lyra backed up to sit on the bed. The fabric of the colorful duvet was too cold against the bare skin on the back of her thighs, exacerbating the sudden flare of anger she felt. "I don't even want to cry. I'm so pissed right now," she growled, her hands balling into fists in her lap. "They turned Glaceon into one of those beasts. She's vicious and awful like those ghosts are now. How the hell do I fix that?" Lyra growled, glaring at her fists.

Silver was silent as Lyra flopped backwards, bringing her hands to her face. "What if being here is entirely pointless?" she muttered, almost to herself. What if the condition was irreversible? If she regained her Pokémon, would Glaceon remain violent and angry just like the others affected by the strange condition were? But what if she was wasn't even one of them and she'd been killed or stashed away somewhere?

"What are you thinking?" Silver asked.

"A lot of what ifs," Lyra said, her voice muffled by her hands. "That maybe she wouldn't even recognize me anymore and hate me. That she'll attack us when we find her, and it'll be her, but it won't be _her_."

Quietly, Silver moved to sit beside her. He must have sat down close to her, for she could feel the heat emanating from his skin. "There's a ton of shit that could've happened to your Glaceon. I get that. But you still have to find her. You won't be happy with yourself unless you keep on looking, right?" he said, craning his head to look back at her.

Lyra nodded. "Right. We just know so little. Like…what makes them become like that? Can they revert to a normal state? And if they can, how do you do it?" Rolling onto her stomach, she buried her head into the duvet. "This is not like battling where you go into an arena with a million different strategies that could work, and you even have strategies for battling against specifics species or evolutionary lines. This is like battling as a novice and having no freaking clue of what to do as soon as someone throws out a Scyther and you've never even seen one in your life."

Huffing a heavy sigh, she waited for Silver to tell her she shouldn't think like that or growl something irritable at her. Shockingly, she felt him nudge her bicep. "Actually, it's more like being eleven years old and your rival sends a huge f***ing Steelix named Rocky your way. Then you nearly piss your pants because you've never seen a Pokémon that huge before," he said, a snarky note in his voice.

In spite of herself, Lyra smiled into the duvet. "That was an interesting battle we had."

"You still had really small Pokemon like Quilava and a Growlithe and WHAM! There's a damned Steelix big enough to kill twenty people by wagging his tail whenever you congratulated him!" Silver remarked. Now Lyra was laughing, unable to help herself.

She felt Silver take her by the shoulders and flip her onto her back again. In spite of the humor in his voice, he kept a serious expression on his face as he questioned, "So, anyway, what'd you do to come up with all these battle strategies?"

"I fought battles," Lyra said, feeling pinned in place by the intensity of his gaze.

A half-smile twitched on his features for a moment before he responded, "No shit, Sherlock. So then this is what we do here, right? We battle them. We observe them. We do some trial and error and then kick some ass in the end, right?"  
Feeling as steely as her beloved Rocky, Lyra nodded. Though she was lying on her back in a Pokémon Center bed looking pretty pathetic, she suddenly felt less…lost. "Right!" she declared, crossing her arms over her stomach.

Silver snickered. "You look really determined for someone who's still slacking off on a bed in the Pokémon Center."

"Oh shut up. It was your idea."

"You're not doing it right."

"We're not doing anything that the nurse thought we were going to do. So of course we're not doing it right!"

Silver's expression glazed for a second as he tried to comprehend what Lyra just said. Moments later, his cheeks flamed and his eyes widened. "D-don't make innuendos!" he sputtered, but yet he didn't scoot away from Lyra like he normally would.

Feeling strong once more, Lyra sat up. There wasn't much space between them like this. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself," she said.

Seemingly torn between the urge to push her away and scoot back himself, Silver seemed rooted in place. Then, he frowned. He reached toward her and rested the back of his hand against her forehead in an expression that reminded Lyra of her childhood. "You're feverish again," Silver remarked, frowning at her.

Her skin felt hot under the contact of his skin against hers, but she merely shrugged at his suggestion. "Maybe your hand is just cold."

"Your eyes are too bright. And you look too warm. You need to take a moment and remember that you were just Cursed or whatever not that long ago," Silver commanded, pulling his hand from her forehead and crossing his arms. "So just lay down a bit or something, okay?"

"What are you, my mom?" Lyra asked jokingly, but now that he mentioned it, she did feel a little shaky and chilly in spite of the heat she'd subjected her body to not that long before. She decided it had nothing to do with the shock she'd felt, since that left her feeling hollow more than anything else, but Silver was probably right. She'd been Cursed, and since then, things had felt not quite normal in her body.

Silver raised his eyebrows and got off the bed. "Lay down already. I'll just go do something else for a few hours so you can rest."  
"They're hours we can't waste! And what about Raikou?" Lyra complained. "I don't want to leave him hanging!" The Legendary had gone east, over the strait that separated Mauville City from the routes that would lead to a town that was allegedly in the treetops of a mountain jungle—was it Fortree City or some other name along those lines? Anyway, Raikou would worry if they didn't cross the strait by sunset.

Shaking his head, Silver grumbled, "He knows where we are at all times. He might not be a Psychic-type, but he's always keeping tabs on us. So rest."

Lyra groaned. "Fine," she carped, stretching the word out as dramatically as she could. She flopped heavily onto the bed, curling into a comfortable position on her side. "But you should get some rest, too. You have shadows under your eyes," she pointed out. It was true; aside from the light tan that had started darkening his skin already in the past few hours, there was an unnatural sort of darkness under his eyes that indicated a lack of restful sleep.

Silver gestured around the room. "Where?" he asked. "There's one bed."

"It's a double. You take one side, I'll go on the other," Lyra said. Sure, she was a girl and he was a boy, but what did it matter? They were tired and Silver hadn't quite anticipated a need for rest. He'd just rented the room for privacy, right?

They argued for another two minutes about sharing the bed before Silver finally gave up and dropped onto the left side. "I will stay all the way over here, and you should stay all the way over there, okay?" he said quickly, turning to face away from Lyra.

Lyra repressed the urge to giggle as she closed her eyes. "Sure thing, Silver. Sleep well."

"Uh…yeah. You, too."

It didn't take long for Lyra to drift off. There was something really comforting in the sound of Silver's steady breathing and his tossing and turning to find a better spot to sleep in. His presence, in this region she didn't know in which her Pokémon was lost, was massively comforting in itself. By now he must have figured that out in some way, but Lyra made a mental note to tell him sometime soon in case he didn't.

Within minutes, Lyra was under the spell of dreams and the safety of a few hours' sleep.

* * *

"All right, Metagross, use Earthquake! Finish off her Lanturn!"

"Lanturn, Surf, quick!"

Steven Stone, champion of the Hoenn, watched with a grin as his Metagross quickly dispatched his opponent's Lanturn. The Surf attack had been weakened the Pokémon's lack of HP and minimal PP left and had done little against Metagross's immensely powerful attack. Lantern fainted, and Steven's opponent, a dark-haired woman dressed in head-to-toe black, gave a heavy sigh. "Well, you got me again," she muttered, sighing heavily at her defeat and returning her Lantern to his Pokeball. "Nice work, Stevie."

"Hey, sis, it's fine," Steven said, walking over her to shake her hand. "You really gave me a run for my money this time."

With a sigh, she took his hand and gave it a firm pump before heading toward the door. "Mark my word, Stevie, I'm gonna kick your ass," she said, pointing at her older brother fiercely.

Shrugging good-naturedly, he watched as his sister left the room in which Steven waited for his next challenger. Now twenty-three years old, he'd waited many hours in this room since he was sixteen years old. And again, the process would resume. Steven was growing bored of waiting for someone to usurp him. _Come on, sis. Get really good already and smoke my ass._

His PokeNav rang suddenly, and he jumped to answer it. "Hello?" he answered, watching his Metagross clomp toward him.

"Are you done wiping the floor with your sister up there? I got a thing or two to talk to you about now that I'm back," said the voice of Phoebe, one of the members of the Elite Four he'd helped to line up after a huge wave of retirements in the past five years. She was the ghost specialist within the group, and also the one viewed as the kid sister due to her age and her cute, precocious nature in spite of her dealings with ghost Pokémon. At seventeen, she was probably the youngest Trainer ever to be part of the Elite Four.

Steven nodded. "Yeah, come on up. I've got nothing but time, you know."

"Super. Give me a few minutes to get dressed and then we're having a little talk about a few things." She hung up, leaving Steven to wonder what was going on. _She went to go visit Mt. Pyre a few days ago, and she's been acting very strangely since. If this is about that trip, I'd love to know what happened up there._

No more than ten minutes later, Phoebe darted into the room. Instead of her usual bikini paired with a wrap over her waist, she was wearing a white blouse and a red cotton skirt that kept twisting around its wearer's ankles. Her short, brown hair was spiked and wet, which suggested that she had taken a shower not long before her call to Steven. "Hey, how was your battle?" she asked breathlessly, stopping just short of the Champion.

"She managed to wipe out four of my Pokémon. I still had Armaldo and Metagross," he answered, but he was too busy noticing the worried, fearful look in Phoebe's eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

Wordlessly, she took a Luxury Ball from the belt around her skirt. He knew it housed one of her prized Banette. "Keep your Metagross on standby," she warned him, and she released the ghostly Pokémon in the middle of the room.

Steven recoiled at the sight of the Banette. Something was horridly wrong with her; though the species was known to look tattered, she looked partially decomposed, with sharp fangs lining her jaw and rotten-looking claws. A look of sheer rage on her face made Steven realize this was hardly Phoebe's normal Pokémon. "What…what the hell?" he hissed as the Banette crouched and released a soul-rattling scream.

"She was attacked by other Pokémon that looked like this on Mt. Pyre one night a few weeks ago, when my grandpa and I were sitting on top and watching the waves. They cloaked her in this black stuff that only disappeared when my grandpa's Milotic used Hydro Pump. Slowly, she's been turning into this…this thing," Phoebe whispered, her eyes huge. "She's becoming so very violent."

Steven watched the Banette examine her rotted claws with interest. "Right now, she doesn't look violent."

"I let her out to check on her after I showered today, along with my Sableye. These two are best friends, and you know what she did? She started attacking Sableye like she was an enemy. I withdrew her…and now she's fine, obviously, but this isn't her nature. That rumor about monster ghosts from Mt. Pyre…I think it's true…" She turned to look at her Banette, grimacing. "Steven, look at her. She's not my silly little Banette anymore. She looks like a darned zombie or something, and her mood turns on a dime."

As if the dime had been turned, Banette's mood changed immediately to be sour. She whirled on Metagross and fired an immensely powerful Shadow Ball at him with an ungodly shriek. "Banette, no! Don't say things like that!" Phoebe cried, half-hysterical.

"Metagross, try and get out of the way. Then use Meteor Mash," Steven ordered coldly.

Phoebe grabbed Steven's arm as Metagross sunk low, the Shadow Ball just scraping the top of its carapace. The massive, robotic Pokémon slammed one of its massive legs into Banette with enough strength to hurl her straight across the room. "She's cursing us all! She's never been mean like this! She's threatening us!" Phoebe shouted. Grabbing the Banette's Luxury Ball, she returned the Pokémon. Tears filled her eyes, and she suddenly buried her head in Steven's chest, flinging her arms around him. "I've tried everything! I took her to the Pokémon Center twice for healing, I've used herbs, I've tried knocking her out and nothing works!" Phoebe wailed.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner about this?" Steven asked softly, hugging her back. His Metagross gave him a look of confusion—this would probably be the only look of that nature that he'd give in a lifetime—as Phoebe gave a deep, rattling sigh.

After a few moments, she said, "I thought I was being delusional. But now it's so obvious that there's really something wrong with her."

"Have you talked to your grandparents lately?"

"They're no longer on Mt. Pyre. The place is too dangerous," Phoebe answered. "There is a massive creature that comes out at night sometimes now that all of these ghost beasts are appearing, with black wings and red eyes, and it talks to the Dusknoir that have appeared there."

Steven thought for a moment, still trapped in Phoebe's tight embrace. _What sort of Pokémon is huge with red eyes and black wings? _"Can you be a little more descriptive?"

"Demonic. It looks demonic. It has this fat, sleek body and thick legs, and there is yellow ornamentation on its head, I think," Phoebe described, and Steven sensed a frown of concentration contorting her features as she tried to recall the being in question.

He sighed. "Let's call Professor Birch. He might know a few things. Then we'll talk to Glacia , Sidney, and Drake about this." As he tried to start walking, Phoebe was still clinging to him. "Pheebs. Let go," Steven muttered.

"I…don't want to…" she breathed.

_Oh, Arceus. _Steven decided that if she was going to be counterproductive, it wasn't going to drag him down. With a heavy sigh he scooped her into his arms and carried her bridal style across the room. She didn't even complain. "You are definitely an only child," Steven commented as he kicked the massive door open.

Phoebe didn't respond, but Steven hoped it lightened the mood. Things were suddenly getting heavy once more—and not because he was carrying a girl in his arms. _If I had five Pokedollars for every time rumors about weird things going on in the Hoenn were true…this would currently be five Pokedollars in my pocket, _Steven thought with a sigh. There were a lot of calls to be made and time-consuming conversations to be had yet today, that was for certain.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, my friends. Welcome to "This was a long update, but not a ton of action happened in it!" Once again, I feel like I've mentioned this, but once I get writing action, I really can't stop, so I need to get it to a place where I can write as much action as I like without interfering with the plot or the involvement of the various characters too much...? _

_Anyway, there are a few PMs that had good questions/points to make that I'd like to answer/comment upon publicly._

_A few PMs mentioned that I seem to have a thing for making references to the Orre and then asked why I do it. Pokemon Colosseum was one of my first Pokemon games and the region was fun. It was based off of Phoenix, Arizona, which is a pretty cool city, and also the main character had absolutely no f***s to give about anything. What isn't there to love? Plus, you start off with an Espeon and an Umbreon? Anyway, so I'm making corny or humorous references to characters/themes/etc. from Pokemon Colosseum in subtle ways...hyuck-hyuck-hyuck...I mean, if you hate the region, I'm sorry. I loved how zany and wild the place was. When one of the main villains has a Pokeball afro and battles to some zesty tango music, you know you're playing a great game._

_A couple of PMs also touched on Kuni's inability to get in contact with Lyra right now because somewhere between Mt. Silver and Mauville City she forgot she owned a Pokegear. It'll be taken care of shortly._

_And lastly, yes, I don't like Kris's sister Eliza, either. She's meant to be despicable, just like Kayla the waitress in Cherrygrove City. I modeled Eliza after the elitist smart kid types that drive me crazy by bragging about their perfect GPA and using a mean brand of sarcasm for no darned good reason. Believe me, there are a ton of those at my school...it's not like I'm stupid. I've got a 3.97 and a position on the high honor roll, but they treat me like an idiot because of that .03 GPA difference.  
_

_I had to throw Steven and Phoebe in there. I love Steven Stone. He's such a massive dork. And I always thought Phoebe looked young and cute and sweet, especially for a Ghost-type trainer, so I had to include her for both of those reasons. And no, I don't ship them. I just think Phoebe looks like everyone's younger sister/niece/granddaughter. _

_On a more personal note, I'm having a really bad week already in my personal life. My next update could be either really slow or really fast, depending on how the next few days go concerning the various issues in my life. So I apologize in advance if you guys have to wait more than two to four days for an update. If it starts getting onto "It's been a week and she hasn't updated," I really apologize. I just don't want to publish anything of a crummy quality when I already feel really bad about everything else. I've actually already start on the next chapter, so look out for that!  
_

_Anyway, please review/favorite/follow! You all make me really happy with all of your comments! Next chapter...there shall be VIOLENCE for those of you who are dying for some violence and action and whatnot._


	16. Aerial Ambush

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters. But if I did, I'd want another game like HeartGold and SoulSilver where you could just walk with your Pokemon and have Pokeathlons.

* * *

Lyra woke up to the rays of the sunset blazing in through the window, and she couldn't help but grimace. _This was not how I wanted to wake up, _she thought, turning over to face away from the window…and found herself face to face with a peacefully sleeping Silver.

Her body tingled oddly at the sight of her rival sleeping so closely to her after he'd made it very clear they would stay on opposite sides of the bed. Every time he exhaled, his breath ruffled her hair. Unable to help the smile that tugged at her features, Lyra smoothed a wayward hair on his forehead that kept getting blown askew by his breath.

Of course, she'd forgotten that just about anything touching him could wake him up. After all, three years was quite a while.

His eyes snapped open. It seemed to take him a few seconds to process Lyra, frozen and staring at him in shock, as well as her fingers resting on his forehead. "Hi," he said blankly after a few seconds.

"…yo," Lyra responded, at a loss for expression. She was waiting for Silver to yell at her for touching him or being so close to him while he was sleeping.

Much to her surprise, an odd little half-smile graced his features, and his eyes were hooded. For a boy with such red hair, his eyelashes were dark and thick, fringing crimson irises in an almost feminine way that didn't match his masculine features. "Playing hairdresser?" he asked, his tone a little snide.

"Um…sorry…" Lyra snatched her hand back, mortified and well-aware that her face was much too hot.

Silver reached out and gently pushed the hair out of Lyra's face wordlessly. His fingers, burning pleasantly against her skin, rested near her temple for a few seconds longer before he pulled his own hand away and rolled off the bed. "It looks like we slept four hours," he said, glowering at the alarm clock. "And damn, that is some bright sun."

"How often is it that you a get a window facing perfectly west like that, huh?" Lyra commented, glad that Silver had turned away from her direction so he couldn't see that she was a little shaky after his gentle touch like that. _He sure acts like a fighter, but I think there's a lover in there, _she thought. Then she internally slapped herself. That was a really stupid way to word that thought.

Silver turned to face her as she sat up. He shielded his face against the sun as he asked, "Seriously, can you close the currents or something? I don't want to be blind at seventeen."  
"Well…we're just going to leave soon, anyway. But yeah." Lyra shut the heavy, chocolate-toned drapes, draining the room of the copper sunlight. She looked over her shoulder at Silver. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine until you woke me up. You?" he inquired, tugging his shoes back on.

She concurred, "Decently. Was it horrible, sharing a bed with me?" she teased.

"Not at all," Silver said, meeting her eyes. Lyra searched his face for an ounce of a sarcastic smirk or a trace or humor, but he seemed sincere. Grabbing her shoes, which she couldn't remember kicking off, she sat down to put them back on again. Meanwhile, Silver stretched mightily, muscles and bones creaking loudly as he did. "Are you feeling better?" he asked Lyra.

"Yeah," she said, tying the laces of her left shoe before grabbing her bag. "Let's get going. Raikou is waiting."

Silver nodded, a businesslike expression returning to his face. Like a Growlithe shaking morning dew from its coat, the two had already freed themselves of the warm, fuzzy moment they'd shared on that bed. They checked out of the Pokémon Center and headed east with a burning copper sun casting long shadows ahead of them.

* * *

It was only after Morty dislocated his right shoulder and almost fell to his death that he realized he and Ho-oh should probably not fly at night when there were unusually dangerous ghost Pokémon lurking in what seemed like every shadow.

After a few hours of flying, Morty had noticed the land below him had gone from brown and arid to a deep green that rolled and dropped into gorges carved by river and lifted high onto tall spires of rock. "Mountainous jungles, huh?" he muttered to himself. Ho-oh slowly descended to fly between rock formations, startling cloud-feathered Flying-type Pokémon into the air, shortly followed by larger green and brown ones that seemed to grow fruit at the base of their throats. _Altaria and Tropius? _Morty guessed to himself. He'd been looking at the Pokémon here for weeks; the names of certain species stuck with him better than others.

The landscape was certainly more appealing than it was in the Johto region, but Morty supposed that the proverb "The grass is always greener on the other side" held weight in this situation.

"Morty," came an airy, lethargic voice. Morty glanced behind him to see that his Sableye had released himself and clung to Ho-oh's back with ghostly arm. "Might we have a chat about something?" he asked, extending his free arm toward his Trainer.

Morty took him by the claw and pulled forward to sit just ahead of him on Ho-oh's back, facing his Trainer. "Letting yourself out of your Pokeball now, huh?" he asked. Since he had been orphaned at a young age and his first true friend had been a lonely Gastly from Sprout Tower—a Pokémon that had eventually evolved into his trusty Gengar—Morty had been able to understand ghosts for the majority of his life without having to undergo a Curse. After he'd acquired Sableye through a trade with the Hoenn Elite Four member Phoebe a few years back, the diamond-eyed Pokémon had been deeply fascinated with this human that shared the same ability as his former Trainer, yet shared none of her personality traits.

Sableye gazed at Morty. "So…how's it?" he asked conversationally.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Morty asked him, crossing his arms.

Sableye glanced around, watching the last rays of sunlight shoot past the rocks. "The farther east you travel, the more in danger I feel," he whispered.

_We are moving toward Mt. Pyre, where you will be in danger because of your ghostly nature, _Ho-oh informed him, angling his wings to slide through a narrower gap between two tall columns of rock. _I doubt that we will find any trouble here. We are three hours away from Fortree City—_

A jarringly violent motion against Ho-oh's back made the Pokémon almost tumble from the sky. Morty wrapped his free arm around Sableye and pulled him to his chest, making sure he didn't fall off. Behind him, he heard the unmistakably gruesome, strange voices of the possessed ghosts. He glanced around to notice that a pair of deteriorated-looking Sableye were crawling toward Morty and his own Sableye.

His traded teammate made an audible squeak of fear. "Shit. They're here," he whispered to Morty.

_I'm at such a disadvantage with Ghost-type Pokémon in this situation, _Morty thought angrily. Maybe in this instance, his best offense was a good defense. "Ho-oh, bank hard, now!" Morty roared.

_Working on that, _Ho-oh responded snappily. Veering so that his wings created a ninety-degree angle with the ground, he managed to toss one of the Sableye, but the other one hung on by two claws, glaring at Morty. "Hand him over," the Sableye hissed, and Morty noted that this was a female one. "He is a ghost. He belongs in our revolution."

To Morty's surprise, his Sableye flipped over his shoulder and slammed the female in the face with a Sucker Punch attack that sent her falling to the forest below. "And stay there!" he called after her, clinging to Morty by one claw.

The Gym Leader cursed and slung the Pokémon back over his shoulder. "Hey! Don't throw yourself out there for any longer than you need to be! Get back in your Pokeball!"

"Not a chance! That's what a coward would do!" Sableye roared defiantly as a plethora of Golbat appeared from seemingly thin air.

Ho-oh retorted, _Being cowardly would not be a horrible idea in this situation. _As he veered wildly and blasted the Golbat with fiery attacks, Morty tried to keep his bearings, a safe distance from the Golbat hoard's rabid-looking fangs, and command his Sableye in battle. His Sucker Punch and Ice Punch attacks proved more than effective against the Golbat, but they came in such large numbers. Thankfully, there were no other Ghost-types like Sableye in the party; their creepy jabber that painfully reminded him of the film _The Omen_.

Taking a chance, Morty released one of his Gengar. Unlike Silver's Gengar or the one Morty had grow up with, this one was sad and solemn while being immensely deadly; he was a bit like a grieving samurai warrior with a penchant for giving Hell. "Do damage however you see fit," Morty forced out through gritted teeth. At this point, he wasn't sure which way was up or down anymore. Gengar, who had immediately taken a hold of Morty's arms, gave a rather sad-looking smirk and dissipated. Not long after this, Golbat began dropping from the sky from Gengar's deadly fighting style.

It was as they began to pass over a river that Morty began feeling dizzy and faint. Sableye had grown steadier and heartier with the battling, and Gengar simply enjoyed the chance to flex his gaseous muscles; their human companion, however, was not doing as well. "Can't…take much more of this, guys," Morty whispered. His stomach did not take well to the ineffectiveness of his inner ear or the trickery of gravity.

"Hang on!" Sableye roared, punching a Golbat in the face. "You can't fall at this height! You'll die!"

Morty's grip loosened. He fought to hang on, but he didn't know if he had any reason to. Was his head pointing toward the sky or the ground? Were those teeth ripping at his exposed left shoulder from above or below? Sableye punched the offending Golbat out of the way, but the force of the attacker attempting to hang on and then being forcibly ripped away did something odd to his shoulder. With a sickening pop, his shoulder blade lacked its proper position, causing his left arm to dangle almost uselessly. This triggered a bright explosion of pain across his back and shoulder left him gasping for breath and unable to hold on. "Morty!" Sableye screeched, but it was too late. The Gym Leader tumbled off of Ho-oh's back.

The weightlessness and the sudden heaviness of a downward feeling brought Morty back to it. Eyes opened wide, he realized he was about to fall to his death. "A little help guys!" he roared back at Ho-oh and his two Pokémon.

He estimated he was a little over one hundred feet away from the forest floor when Gengar appeared beside him, took him by his uninjured arm and teleported away. Ghosts rarely had the ability to bring something living with them when they appeared from thin air or disappeared into it, but Morty was glad that the gravity of the situation had been inspiration enough for Gengar to bring his Trainer back onto Ho-oh's back.

"You're not dead!" Sableye cried jubilantly, socking a Golbat straight into another one with the move Ice Punch.

Gengar patted Morty on the shoulder and merely said, "It would be too soon for you to join our ranks." Noticing a large cloud of Golbat hovering nearby, he sighed. "Call out my friend. We need a Thunderbolt."

"Good plan." Morty released his first-ever Pokémon, his older and stronger Gengar, who immediately noticed the trouble. Without even waiting for a command, he blasted all of the Golbat from the sky with a Thunderbolt that could've put one of Raikou's to shame.

Unsurprisingly, the attack ceased after this. Samurai Gengar gave a nod to his Trainer and returned himself to his Pokeball silently. Like his friend, Sableye did the same after brushing the flat side of his claws sympathetically against Morty's arm. That left Morty alone with his first-ever Pokémon: his first Gengar. This old companion plopped down on Ho-oh's back and gave a large sigh. "Oi, that was a shit-ton of Golbat right there. And they didn't look all too swell, either," he said. His accent was akin to those of the residents of Saffron City, with nasally, drawn-out vowels and clipped consonants that were almost comical.

"Yeah. They almost got me killed," Morty admitted.

Gengar peered over Ho-oh's back. "That woulda been a long fall. Did you know your shoulder looks real dislocated?" he added, frowning at Morty.

"That's because it is, you airheaded dumdum," Gengar said, rolling his eyes. "You gotta pop that son of a b**** back in place before you get tissue damage."

_Yes, please. Do it quickly, too, _Ho-oh added, sounding mildly disgusted at the prospect of someone popping their shoulder back into its socket on his back.

Gengar gave his Trainer a look and then teleported behind Morty. "Now, you're gonna probably swear real loud, but it's real important that we do this shit before you get hurt bad. I mean, this is gonna hurt like f*** but not for as long as it would if we didn't pop the little bastard back in."

Morty groaned. He held onto Ho-oh with all that he had; for all of the sense that Gengar had made with his previous points, he already regretted letting the ghost force his shoulder back into place. Shutting his eyes tightly, he called, "Ho-oh, tell me when he's done."

_You idiot. You will feel it._

"Not if I black out first I won't."

_Do not make that your goal under any circumstances!_

"It was never a—HOLY MOTHER OF-"

The echoes of Morty's shoulder relocation and creative swearing scared the sleeping Linoone and Marill in the forest below, scattering them near and far. It was scarcely evening, but already a night of sleep had been ruined for everyone aside from the travelers.

Of course, through it all, Gengar managed to laugh about Morty's every reaction. The Gym Leader vowed revenge…later…when he didn't feel like he wanted to commit a murder-suicide on a being that had never fit the definition of being alive in his life.

* * *

The strait to the east of Mauville City apparently was one of the only places in the Hoenn that one could catch the aggressive Water/Dark-type Pokémon Carvanha. Feraligatr, as he crossed the strait, wanted to punish all of them for being little dirt-bags. With their sharp little fangs and bad attitudes, they made the swim fairly difficult for Feraligatr and Quagsire as they ferried their Trainers across the waters. Lyra had called out her Xatu to shoot Psychic attacks at the water and scare them away, but it would only work for a few minutes at a time.

"If I wasn't carrying my Trainer, I'd eat you all," Feraligatr snarled at one particular Carvanha that kept nibbling at his belly.

She giggled maliciously. Silver seemed to notice and kicked under Feraligatr's belly with his bare feet, scaring the particular offender away. "They're creepy as hell," Silver commented to Lyra. By now, they were two-thirds of the way across the strait and most of the Carvanha had lost interest in the angry Starter Pokémon and the dull Quagsire.

Lyra only chuckled at his comment. For a short time, all was quiet aside from the rhythm of the waves. Feraligatr knew that Quagsire wouldn't break the silence. He was a slow thinker outside of battle and felt ashamed of that. It had very little to do with his personality; as soon as a Wooper evolved into a Quagsire, they suddenly lost a lot of their ability to process forethought quickly. However, a Quagsire did have the advantage of keen intuition and a stronger body upon evolving.

As they neared the opposite shore, Raikou appeared, standing on the banks with a look on his face that was murderous at best. "He looks happy," Feraligatr muttered sarcastically, earning an amused glance from Xatu.

They reached shore, and Raikou immediately began accosting the Trainers as they slipped off of Feraligatr's and Quagsire's backs. _You two! What the hell do you think you were doing? _Raikou snapped, a low rumble forming at the back of his throat. _I could smell you from ten miles off just laying there in that city! Now it's almost sundown, and if you hadn't noticed, we were attacked at night last night. Why were you wasting time like that? _

Feraligatr noticed that Lyra visibly blanched at his outburst. _Now would be a good time to defend your actions, Silver, _Feraligatr thought at his Trainer, who only raised his eyebrows slightly at Raikou's apparent rage.

Lyra scratched the back of her neck as Raikou kept ranting and quietly said, "I'm sorry. I have a fever, and I needed to sleep for a while."

Raikou stopped and stared at her. _Fever? I didn't know you had a fever. _

"Yes. Way to go, fuzzball. You just yelled at her for it," Silver grumbled, rolling his eyes. "And if you're going to be pissed at anyone, be pissed at me. I was the one who made her take a nap," he added

Feraligatr internally cheered. _He's standing up for her! Keep going! _Raikou blinked, his features etched with shame as Silver continued, "I know you don't like that we just wasted time like that, but honestly. Lyra's going to burn herself out if someone doesn't tell her to rest every now and then."  
"I don't need a mommy," Lyra grumbled, but color had returned to her face. Grabbing the Heal Ball she kept her Quagsire in, she returned him. Silver exchanged looks with Feraligatr but didn't make an attempt to return him. Feraligatr figured that Silver wanted him around in case they were attacked by the beasts again tonight.

Lyra also returned her Xatu and called out her Typhlosion. She'd proven to be excellent fighter against the beasts, after all. The heat of her fiery attacks was almost as much of a deterrent as the water, though it didn't quite produce the same effect as the water did. "Let's get going. Clearly, I've wasted enough time," Lyra said, a wry smirk twisting her lips.

_Atta girl, _Raikou complimented, bumping against her shoulder affectionately.

"Why aren't we going directly east?" Silver asked as they started north toward hazy green mountains in the distance. "Isn't that the shorter way there?"  
_I scouted it out, _Raikou said, and he grimaced mightily. _There are thousands of ghosts and beasts on that path that want nothing to do with us. It'd be mad to try and fight them all off. _

"I can feel it from a mile off," Typhlosion commented, her nose wrinkling. Feraligatr knew exactly what she meant; the further east they headed, the more everything felt substantially wrong.

Lyra glanced off east, toward flatland covered in dense foliage. "How long will it take to get to Mt. Pyre going this way?" she asked, worry blatant in her features.

Raikou thought for a moment as they began walking along. _Two and a half days. For at least a day and a half of that, we'll be on this path, going uphill, _he said. _I hope your Pokegears are charged._

"Oh shit," Lyra hissed. "I was supposed to call Kuni at least two nights ago!"

Feraligatr sighed. The journey once again hit a bump in the road before it could really even get going, hadn't it?

* * *

Ho-oh landed near a river as the bloody tones of the sunset became the cool blues of dusk. Morty wasn't in great shape on his back, and his Gengar was irritating on an unworldly level. Plus, on the ground, there was no way for anyone to get knocked out of the sky. That chase in the sky had been tiring, since it had encompassed taking care of the human on his back and also attacking anything that came within three yards of his face. "Everything hurts," Morty groaned as he rolled off of Ho-oh's back, landing heavily on the ground below him. "I need a Hyper Potion." Gengar slid off beside him, looking slightly less impish than usual.

_I'm afraid they don't have those for humans, _Ho-oh said, dipping his head into the river to have a drink. Startled Feebas leapt away from Ho-oh's sharp beak, disappearing into the sapphire depths of the river. _You should think about going into Fortree City and buying some human medicine for your aches._

"That's a fantastic idea, but I have no clue where the city even is," he groaned.

_You're within walking distance. We're near the Weather Institute, which is a ten minute walk from the city. In your state, though, it might be more like a twenty-five minute walk and you'd look like a zombie from one of your beloved films during this walk, _Ho-oh said.

"Screw appearances. Why can't you just fly me over?" he grumbled, sitting up. He immediately clapped his hand to his bad shoulder, face contorting painfully. "When I was here the first time, talking to the people of this region, they don't recognize any of the Johto Legendaries. And if they do, they're not particularly enthralled by them. Hell, there was some woman who asked me what was going on with that 'giant fire-breathing Torchic that spews rainbows'!" he chuckled at this, much to Ho-oh's chagrin.

Sighing, he gazed at his reflection in the water. Surely he didn't resemble a Torchic that greatly. Then, he turned back to Morty and Gengar. _I will fly you to the outer city limits. Go find a pharmacy or whatever it is you buy medication from and then come back immediately. Do not be aimless, _he ordered.

"Swell," Morty said sarcastically, and he clambered back onto Ho-oh's back. Gengar clambered on behind him, chuckling about something. "Let's get moving."

_With pleasure, _Ho-oh responded darkly before taking off once more. If the impudent human hadn't saved him earlier that week, he would obviously be in a worse situation, but something about Morty's personality was grating on him painfully. _The last time I befriended a human hundreds of years ago, he was a much more honorable person. Something has been lost on the people of this generation, I believe._ Someday he'd give Morty a taste of his own sarcastic superiority complex. When that day arrived, it'd be an immensely enjoyable one for the Legendary, one that would be engraved in his memory forever.

* * *

Every kimono girl was back in the Dance Theatre once more, and the place was loud. Sayo and Naoko were arguing over what movie they were going to go see in Goldenrod City tomorrow night, Zuki was singing in her low, bluesy voice in her bedroom, and Miki had her current boyfriend over to play a rather violent game of slapjack in the middle of the hallway to which every room was connected.

Kuni gritted her teeth as she sat in the kitchen. After everything she'd told the other kimono girls about the events of the past few days, it seemed like no one really cared about Lyra's predicament or the fact that their mutual friend hadn't called since she left to seek her Glaceon out. Zuki was the only one who had shown any concern for the girl, but she also was the silently anxious sort of person. Everything worried her.

Sipping her tea violently, Kuni wished someone—anyone, really—would call her about what was going on in the Hoenn. She was at a point where she wasn't sure if she was furious or worried anymore.

As if on a cue, her Pokegear rang.

Kuni snatched it up and answered it sharply. "Yeah?"

"Kuni! Oh Arceus, I'm so sorry! Things got out of hand and I forgot to call you! I'm okay! I'm sorry! My battery died and we just used Silver's Magnezone to charge it and…" gushed Lyra. Kuni raised her eyes to the ceiling, thanking Arceus or whoever had arranged for this lovely coincidence to happen, and listened to Lyra spill apologies like an overturned china cup would surely spill tea.

After a few more seconds of this, Kuni cut her off. "Okay. I get it. You were a dumbass and made me worry. Where are you?"  
"We're in Hoenn, about two and a half days away from Fortree City," Lyra said. "We have Raikou with us."

Kuni grinned at this. She'd had the feeling that the Legendary would try and seek her out; Raikou had always been rather fond of Lyra, as far as she could tell, and in these strange times, he would feel obligated to do what he could to help out. "That's great. Is Silver all right?"

"Want to talk to him? He's rolling his eyes at me right now for how I started this conversation, I think."

"Yeah, let me ask him about things," Kuni said, unable to repress a twitch of her mouth.

Silver came onto the line fairly quickly. "Sorry about Lyra being irresponsible like that," he said, forgoing any greeting.

"Like you're one to talk. Three years, remember?"

"Shut up, Kuni. And we're all okay. Okay?"

"Morty and Ho-oh are in the Hoenn, too, you know," Kuni said triumphantly, ignoring Silver's brusqueness. "They're headed the same place you are. See if you can't team up with him and really get stuff done."

"What, seriously? Lyra, Morty's in the Hoenn, too. So is Ho-oh!" Silver seemed to call over his shoulder, and then returned to the handset. "Why?"

"Ho-oh was there investigating or something and Morty followed him," she explained. A loud crash resounded from the hallway followed by evil laughter and some well-placed swearing; Miki and her boyfriend were certainly getting really into that card game.

Silver sighed. "I see why he and Eusine are friends. Stalking Legendaries and all."  
"No duh. Now, I'm holding you guys up. So…keep in contact," Kuni requested, listening to Sayo chew out the card players for knocking something over.

"I'll make sure she doesn't forget this time," Silver said, and he hung up. Kuni hopped off of her stool to glance into the hallway. Miki and her boyfriend were being lectured by Sayo, who was currently propping up the bookcase the two had managed to knock over.

_That is one violent game of slapjack they had going there, _Kuni thought, eyebrows raised. Her mood considerably better now that she knew how Lyra was, she headed to her room. It was close to two in the morning, and she had slept a combined total of eight hours in three days. If anyone woke her up before noon tomorrow, there would be hell to pay.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, and welcome to "I'm gradually getting into the action so you guys don't feel like you're suddenly at a J.J. Abrams movie where everything is action this and action that". But did you see that? ACTION THIS CHAPTER. Whoa, man. AND WHAT'S THIS? A LITTLE FLUFF, TOO? Right you are, sport. Fluff and action. Who knew they could coexist?_

_Now, to the crux of the matter..._

_Some people want me to change the genre of my story, by the way. I got a few PMs asking why this wasn't adventure and romance. Well, yes, it's an adventure, but this is also practically a zombie-fightin' story with supernatural elements, like talking to ghosts and things. So I thought supernatural and romance suited it better? If anyone disagrees with this, PM me and give me some good reasons why this should be in a different subgenre. I'm open for changing it if need be._

_One of my friends was reading this and mentioned that Morty is pretty useless in a situation where his ghost Pokemon could be turned into beasts at any given moment. I suppose she's right, and I suppose I've had a solution to that for a while now...bahahahahaha...little does she know. But now she does, since she's reading this story. _

_This same friend has also stated that we need to take up the "Someone please help Will Graham" thing, but she wants us to do it with Glaceon instead...I don't think this story needs the sort of cult following that Hannibal has._

_Also, I'm currently attempting to revive my Sequelshipping AU so that I can start publishing that hopefully before the end of summer. It's not really much of an AU, honestly, but it has a number of fun twists and things! And it'll be a lot lighter and happier than It's Been A While, though I feel like this story so far has been a lot happier than I planned on it being originally.  
_

_Thanks again to all of my reviewers and those of you who have this story followed and favorited. You're like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. I had to cut through so much distraction and writer's block to get this one out to you guys. _

_To you ghost readers out there, feel free to review! Especially those of you from Singapore. Honest to God, I have no clue why or how you're reading this, but I'm intrigued._


	17. Obscured Motive

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there would be an entire region based off of the city of Venice in Italy.

* * *

The Distortion World was but a fable in the eyes of most, if the name was ever acknowledged. It was supposedly a dark, monstrous place where a man's blood could be frozen within his veins and the soul of a human went…crooked, for lack of a kinder word. It was the place that Giratina had been banished to for the crimes he'd committed against Pokémon and humanity. His name was synonymous with hell and the metaphysical Devil in myths, but in modern times, it was bastardized and ridiculed, just as the pirates in the Hoenn, who had once been such a plague upon the seas, had been turned into little more than a laughing point.

Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, banished god of ghosts, wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that he was a laughing point. It had been a long time since any human had seen his terrible face, after all. One look at him would be all it'd take to make him feared again. However, that was not his goal in this tropical region.

Gazing down at Mt. Pyre through the rift he created, Giratina watched his ghosts veer through the dark in swarms. Rarely would they have gathered in such large numbers if it weren't for his little mind-trick. Aside from the hundreds of Dusknoir that had appeared at his return, he doubted that any of the Pokémon, in their right minds, would have joined Giratina in his mission.

He heard the rustle of fur near him. Twisting the serpentine form he could only maintain in this realm he had been confined to for so long, he gazed down at one of the few who had willingly undertaken his transformative shadows to become a ghost. Her life before hadn't been a great one. Humans in some tiny settlement not far from Mt. Pyre had spent years blaming her for flooding and droughts, though if they'd known better they would have known to blame the scientists of the two teams that had basically taken part in a glorified pissing contest over the past few years. Formerly white-furred and rather prim in appearance, this creature was a female Absol with a deadly, serrated head blade and jet-black fur padded up to him. She called herself Mellow, which Giratina found ironic, since her personality was oftentimes very flat and unforgiving. But he supposed there was some tranquility about her—she looked like death personified. Wasn't death supposed to be peace from the hectic intricacies of living?

Giratina was curious as to what she was doing here. She'd been organizing search parties to seek out any ghosts or Pokémon that knew Ghost-type moves they could from the Hoenn and surrounding region. "Mellow. What brings you up here?" he asked, crouching to look at the much smaller Pokémon.

She dipped her head. "The party I sent out to neutralize that Ho-oh failed," she said in a bored voice, not sounding at all reproachful. An Absol was not known to be apologetic; Mellow was a prime example of this. "They have all returned in terrible condition, and they say that Ho-oh has teamed up with a Trainer with powerful ghosts on his team."

Gazing at a Dusknoir below him that forcibly covered a Vulpix in the shadows that would turn her into a Ghost-type, he gave a sigh. _Trouble as always. _"Is this so?"

"Yes. There was also a group of Sableye I sent south of Mauville City that failed to convert anyone, willingly or unwillingly, and they claim to have been thwarted by a pair of young Trainers with a Feraligatr on their side," she added, rolling her eyes. "They make a lot of excuses."

"Interesting," Giratina muttered. At this point in his lonely, wretched life, very few things really made him angry anymore, considering that he was in a perpetual state of rage anyway. Besides, there had reports of such things for days. Attempting to steal Pokémon from formidable Trainers wasn't necessarily going to be successful; they had fight and drive. He'd officially cut off all of his search parties from Ever Grande City, for example. The Trainers that gathered there were the cream of the crop. It was unfortunate, as Giratina needed the brains and the brawn of those well-trained, highly-powerful battlers of a ghostly nature.

Mellow looked up at him. "What do you suggest we do about this?" she asked, intensely crimson eyes glowing against the violet shades of the Distortion World.

Giratina gazed out at the world he was starting to leave his sinister mark on once more. "Let's see how much trouble they cause. If they don't interfere with the final plan, I don't necessarily care if they're interfering with the grunt work. Ho-oh, however…" He turned around, Mellow repositioning herself to avoid getting crushed by his large form. Trapped in a tangled web of dark, dripping silk spun by several Ariados that clambered the gravity-defying rock structures within the Distortion World, was the great beast Entei, a once-magnificent beast that now looked desperate and wrathful. "…I sense he knows that this Pokémon came looking for his trio master and came across us instead."

Entei noticed the attention upon him. "Arceus damn you!" he snarled violently, attempting to shoot a fire attack. However, he sputtered and gagged. The Ariados had been crafty, weaving their ugly webs tightly across the fire sac in his throat that produced the flames he spat. It repressed the motion needed to spew the flames. Giratina supposed it was like ripping the jaws from a Mawile, rendering it unable to bite.

Watching him struggle gave Giratina a sense of satisfaction. The Pokémon had always been free to go where he pleased; it was time for him to understand the burden of being stuck, of knowing he couldn't leave when he wanted to. Giratina chided, "Harsh words. I don't suppose you are quite in the position to say such things to me, though, my young friend."  
"How does this not bother you?" Entei growled, his eyes flashing quite icily for a Pokémon of flames. "You are enslaving innocent Pokémon with powers that you yourself can barely control!"

Giratina sighed mightily. Yes, so maybe it was the first time he'd ever employed the evil shadows technique and he'd accidentally mentioned that in front of the great auburn hairball, but he had control over them. For example, he'd managed to create Pokémon with the ability to curse and control humans with as little effort as blowing out a candle. They should've been thanking him for that. No longer did they have to accept the burden handed to them by following their Trainer's orders and essentially being their slaves. "Entei, you worry…_far _too much," he said, scratching at his forehead with one of his red-tipped tentacles. "I don't expect you to understand. You've always been free to do as you please. You haven't been feared and scorned every time your name is mentioned."

"I cause volcanic eruptions every time I roar. I am quite feared," Entei said, rolling his eyes. As Entei scorned him, Giratina felt his own eyes narrow. How dare _this little whelp _compare his relatively tiny issue of making volcanoes erupt to Giratina's insatiable need for violence combined with thousands of years of isolation?

Entei didn't expect it when Giratina slapped him hard across the face with two of his tentacles. The sharp tips of his tentacles slashed on the outer edge of the Legendary's face, drawing two canyons that quickly overflowed with deep, red rivers. "That is very trite, you glorified flame-bag. I suggest you quit acting as though you could possibly have it as horrible as I've had it," Giratina growled.

Mellow bumped against his side. "Calm yourself. Now is not the time for violence."

Giratina closed his eyes and withdrew his tentacles. He murmured, "You're right, Mellow. Forgive my outburst."

"You're despicable!" Entei snarled. Giratina could smell the blood, the delicious, iron-hinted scented gore, and wanted nothing more than to savor it. Even if it was entirely unnecessary for his survival, it had been many years since he'd devoured prey, after all.

Casting aside his lust for blood, Giratina cast a baleful look at Entei. "I am not called the Renegade Pokémon because it sounds 'cool'," he said, and though no one else could see it due to his face plates, his jaws split in a devastatingly horrifying grin. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'd like rest. Tonight I'm venturing out once more into this land. Hoenn, is it called? It is much livelier than the Sinnoh, I suppose," he murmured, almost to himself.

"What do we do if Ho-oh ends up here, though?" Mellow asked as he lifted off from the ground.

He glanced at her. "There are others who have a great deal of firepower that the little group of Shuppet and Duskull that we sent do not have. This time, he will not escape, should he attempt to interfere once more." Rising off the ground, he gave her a pointed stare. "Tell the Dusknoir that they're to neutralize anything that comes within a twenty mile radius of Mt. Pyre."

"I will do that," Mellow said. She bounded toward the gap between the Distortion World and reality and threw herself into the world she'd left behind so casually just weeks ago.

Giratina ignored Entei's pointed glower as he soared into the depths of the Distortion World that only he understood. In a few days, this place would not be such a lonely hell. No fire-breathing fuzzballs would be getting in his way, nor would his rainbow-hued master.

He'd done his waiting. It would soon be time to act.

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to the Tree Fort Pharmacy. How may I help you?"

"Ibuprofen. All of the Ibuprofen you own."

The pharmacist, a woman with olive skin and dark braids in her mid-thirties, looked up with a disturbed facial expression as Morty stumbled into the Pharmacy. "Wow, son. You look like shit. If it were legal, I would sell you all the ibuprofen I had in here. You need it more than any other sad sack that'll come through here this evening," she said, not at all mincing words. "What is that all over your clothes, anyway? Soot?"

Morty chuckled ruefully. "Yeah. You could say that I had a bit of a rough time getting here."

"Well I'll say," she said, raising her eyebrows. "The name's Calisto. You are?"

"Morty," he responded, padding up to the counter.

Calisto snorted. "Morty. Like _morte. _As in 'dead', right?"

"You have no idea." Morty had heard jokes like that ever since he'd become a Ghost-type Gym Leader. Coming from someone with clear knowledge of other languages, though, and no knowledge of his ghosts, it wasn't nearly as irritating.

Like every other building in the city, the pharmacy was built into the massive trees cresting the top of this bluff. The inside was sleek and polished, rich with the scent of mahogany, and it looked like it was carved right out the tree itself, but he knew that probably wasn't the case. From what Morty had seen so far of the city, the people of Fortree City wouldn't jeopardize the health of the trees. Calisto dug around behind the pharmacy counter. "Honestly, you should go get a doc to give you a prescription for some serious pain meds. Ibuprofen looks a little weak for what you have going on there. The bruising on your shoulder tells me that it's been dislocated recently," she said, eyebrows raised. "And it looks like you have some first-degree burns on your arms."

"The doctor I saw said I'd be fine with just some ibuprofen," Morty lied. He supposed that in the firefight earlier, Ho-oh managed to blow some of his flames back accidentally.

Calisto raised her eyebrows but set a bottle of ibuprofen on the counter. "That'll be 2000 Pokedollars."  
Morty paid her. As he started to leave the pharmacy, Calisto called, "If you're travelling tonight, don't go anywhere near Mt. Pyre. The media's telling us all that there's bad weather there, but we all know there are some strange things going on over there."

Repressing rueful laughter, Morty nodded. "Thanks for the tip, ma'am. Have a nice night."  
"Don't go hurt yourself, all right?" She called after him as he left the building.

"Sure." _If I don't die I'll consider this a good trip, actually._

He left the pharmacy. Trotting down the staircase, he narrowly avoided a scrawny girl dressed in head-to-toe black darting up the stairs near him. "Sorry, ma'am," he apologized, flattening himself against the tree to give her room to pass.

The girl froze, staring at him with wide yellow eyes. Her hair was a choppy swathe of Murkrow-dark hair that fell into her eyes, making her look younger than she likely was. After three seconds or so, her expression steeled and she gave him a dirty look before charging onward wordlessly. Scratching his head, he muttered, "Well, then." _Girls like her make rude guys strangle chivalry to death, _Morty thought. He hustled away, not wanting to keep Ho-oh waiting any longer. The Legendary was none too happy as it was, and making him wait was like asking to be made into an extra-crispy Morty sandwich.

In his haste, he missed the young girl with choppy dark hair glimmer and turn into something else entirely before entering the pharmacy.

* * *

_You might find this a little surprising, but that dumbass who just came into your pharmacy with the sooty clothes and the pained expression is actually attempting to do something about the situation. And he's not entirely a dumbass, either._

Calisto didn't even look up at the appearance of her visitor as she sorted prescriptions. "Nice of you to drop by. What's his name? What's he up to?"  
_His name _is _actually Morty. He's a Gym Leader from the Johto. Specializes in Ghost types, and is currently teamed up with a Ho-oh. I think he could use a little help, quite frankly._

"What the hell is a Ho-oh? Is that some kind of snack cake?" Calisto asked.

She heard an audible sigh. _I believe that's a Ho-Ho that you're thinking of. Ho-oh is a large flying Pokémon that has immense firepower and creates rainbows wherever he flies._

Calisto stuck a pill bottle in a basket labeled with the last name "Ryder" and sighed. "That sounds really weird. It's powerful, though?"  
Her visitor was silent a moment before saying, _He is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, due to the ghostly nature of Morty's team, he is essentially going to get his ass handed to him if he faces off with these ghosts that are no longer ghosts. _

Repressing a smile, Calisto looked around for her visitor. There wasn't a single reflective red or white feather in sight. Tonight, she didn't want to be seen. Calisto understood the feeling. Bringing her eyes back down to her work, she questioned, "Well, what are you going to do? Help the poor idiot?"

_I suppose I'll have to, considering that most of the other Legendaries of this region and the powerful humans will not help, _she sighed huffily.

"Is your brother helping at all?"

_He's too busy keeping an eye on some young male Trainer that he thinks has "potential" to be a great protector of the region. Landon? Weston? Some name like that._

Calisto began refilling another bottle. With a chuckle, she said, "Go help that beat-up idiot that came through the door. You know you want to."

_Damned straight I do. You never saw me, _her visitor ordered. Moments later, Calisto glanced up to see her visitor's disguised form, with her choppy dark hair and intensely golden-yellow eyes, trotting out the door. She'd even manipulated the form so that Calisto heard the clunk of boots when she knew that her true form couldn't actually wear them.

Smiling to herself, Calisto busied herself with refilling someone else's prescription. Her visitor would always help someone in need, even if she felt that they had put themselves in said position rather stupidly. "Go get him, darling," she whispered.

* * *

Morty was close to the edge of town now. Here the buildings were spaced farther apart and there was a very traditional Pokémon Center that sat flat on the ground. _Maybe I should go heal my team quick, _Morty thought. It had been close to a week since he'd last set foot in the red-roofed building, and it only took two minutes or less at a healing machine to return his party to full health.

He entered the building, greeted the nurse and handed over his Pokeballs. Aside from himself and a man in his mid-fifties talking in worried tones to someone over his PokeNav, the Pokémon Center was mostly empty. As he waited, he opened the bottle of ibuprofen and took one of the circular red pills without water. Morty knew it wasn't healthy to do that, especially since he just did it on an empty stomach, but he was also pressed for time and needed the pain in his shoulder to stop now.

The door opened behind him, but he didn't bother to give a cursory glance in the newcomer's direction. Impatience was setting in. Ho-oh would likely be angry at him when he returned, even though he'd made haste in everything he'd done within Fortree City that night.

"Here are your Pokémon!" the nurse chirped. She was young and pretty, with sandy hair that was as long as Jasmine's, but her looks resembled Clair's—minus the intensity in her eyes, of course. Her eyes travelled past Morty to look behind him. "That girl back there is giving you a pretty intense look. Do you know her?"

_Girl? _Morty turned around and saw the girl with the dark, choppy hair from earlier sitting in a chair behind him. With black cargo pants, a black tank top and a heavy black scarf wrapped around her neck, she looked dangerous, in spite of her rather unthreatening physique. What did she want? Shooting her his best polite smile, Morty greeted, "Hi, do I know you?"

_You will shortly, _said a voice in his head that was not unlike Lyra's. Her intensely yellow eyes met his, and she gave him a slight nod. _Yes, the rather small, unassuming girl in black. That's what you perceive as being me. Follow me…Morty. _She stood up slowly and walked toward the door, throwing it open.

_She is definitely not a human, _Morty decided with a sigh as he rushed after her. As he exited the Pokémon Center, he almost ran straight into her again. This time, she stood facing him. With her lack of stature and figure, she looked like a twelve-year-old human, but she really scared him on a level that only a malevolent Dark-type Pokémon would. "Who are you?" he demanded, gazing down at her.

The corner of her mouth twitched. _You'd find it really ironic if I told you._

"I asked who you are. Answer me, please," Morty demanded, folding his arms across his chest. "You could be one of those rotted beasts for all I know."  
_Latias. I'm Latias, you idiot, _she said, rolling her eyes.

Morty stared at her, almost uncomprehending. He'd read myths about her and her sibling, Latios. Latias was supposed to be light and cheerful while Latios was the heavy, serious one with no time for tomfoolery. Obviously, those myths were a load of bogus. "You're pretty serious to be one of those."  
_If you cite those outdated myths about my predecessors, I will blast you into next week, and hopefully by then we'll have taken care of that fool Giratina and you'll have gotten over you bum shoulder. _She gazed at him with hard eyes. They were not young, innocent eyes like he would've expected with the Legendary, even if this was just a form she took and it wasn't her actual body. _I propose we team up, since I cannot blast you into next week. I don't have control over time, after all._

Morty blinked a few times. The Psychic/Dragon-type was moving a little too quickly for him to follow when he'd almost fallen to his death earlier that evening. "Wait…why?"

She grabbed him by the arm and led him away. _While you're over here babbling incoherently, I've found Ho-oh's mind and we had an in-depth conversation about working together. He's accepting of my offer, _she explained. _You're unbelievably slow for someone who believes that they're so intelligent, you know._

"Well then."

_Is that all you're going to say? _She demanded, releasing his arm so he could walk beside her.

"I'm not being given a chance to think about this. I'll tell you later."

Latias externally groaned, sounding like a small, trilling Pokémon as opposed to a human, and Morty immediately knew it really was her. However, that didn't change the fact that his head was reeling after he'd gained an ally in a locally famous Legendary so suddenly when he had been certain he'd just head back to Ho-oh on his own to continue their journey tonight. _We're going to have a group discussion about this once we find Ho-oh, _Morty decided, _because I feel like I just get slammed with a frying pan when I was expecting to get some spoon tossed at me._

* * *

"Great view," Lyra remarked breathlessly. Standing near a ridge by a river that carved a gorge through the greenery, she and Silver, accompanied by an unusually pensive Raikou, rested after cresting a particularly steep hill. They'd returned their starter Pokémon to their Pokeballs long ago; the walk had been peaceful and the two had started bickering over something fairly ridiculous. However, Lyra didn't seem too bothered by that particular squabble anymore and gazed at the sky with love bright in her eyes. "Look at all the stars, too."

Silver glanced up at the, but he didn't particularly care much for them on this evening. He heard Raikou sit down behind them in the grass and yawn loudly; he must not have been much of a night Noctowl ever in his life. Increasingly, he found himself watching Lyra. It was like travelling with her all over again when he was a younger, stupider teenager. In spite of the obvious pain she'd felt in the past months, she still saw the wonder of the world. Every unfamiliar species of Pokémon she was something rare and unique, even if Silver pointed out that they'd seen at least a dozen other members of same species prior to whatever sighting that had her feeling so excited. The landscape enthralled her, the plants captured her interest, and the joy of life glowed brilliantly inside her. Even through her loss, she could manage a smile. To him, it was incredible. It was all so appealing in ways that felt stronger than it had been even when he was younger, and he wasn't sure if it was the lack of sleep that sharpened it or if he really had just become silly over this girl.

He found himself gravitating toward her as she looked out over the landscape. "This place looks like a slice of heaven," Lyra murmured. She pushed her hair out of her face and watched the wind entice the trees into dancing. "It's kind of ironic that Dusknoir captured my Glaceon and dragged her here. It doesn't seem like the sort of place you'd get taken to after getting kidnapped."

"I guess not," Silver admitted, but he only really noticed how her voice almost had a lilt to it, one that shouldn't have belonged to a girl who spent the first ten years of her life in a country town. Wherever it came from, Silver found it attractive.

_Pull yourself together, _Silver thought in frustration, trying to clear his head. _You can't obsess and fawn over every damned thing she does. That pussy Ethan might do that, but you're not going to._ But ever since they'd slept in the same bed in Mauville City, he felt restless about her, and suddenly everything she did seemed like it was worth falling head over heels for.

Raikou's insidious little voice came into his head. _Try and kiss her. I dare you, _Raikou said impishly, and it took all of Silver's self-control to not march over to the Legendary and knock him a good one.

Silver concentrated and thought back, _I can't do that on a rescue mission!_

_ Oh, are there rules for when some frightening Dusknoir steals your love interest's Glaceon and you join her on a journey that drags you away from home? I wasn't aware! _Raikou mocked, and Silver heard him repress his chuffy laughter.

He exhaled shakily. _Three years, Raikou. Three years. I can't just…you know...that'd be tacky as hell. Considering my name is Silver and I'm a redhead with red eyes, I know a few things about tacky. I won't infect her with my tackiness, too._

Raikou was silent a moment, and he cautiously said, _She looks at you frequently, but you never catch it. She missed you. It's not like she's giving you bedroom eyes, but she's longing for you, too. I don't know what happened in Mauville, but it's as though you both threw down barriers in spite of acting rather businesslike for the first hour and a half of this hike._

Silver watched Lyra out of the corner of his eye as she crouched, examining a blossoming plant at their feet that sprouted periwinkle blooms. Tentatively, he asked Raikou, _Have you had a conversation with her about this? Because I don't want to force myself on her, _he added as he scratched at his forearm.

_If it fails, blame me, _Raikou said. _Honestly. I feel that there's something between you two that needs to be settled, though, before we go put our necks on the line for her Glaceon and any other causes we feel the need to take up in this region._

_ Are you suggesting sexual tension? _Silver asked wryly.

_Hell no. The level of pheromones and hormones in the air would be unbearable if I was suggesting that. Now, go act or I'll keep bothering you until you do, _Raikou threatened in a suggestive tone. Silver wondered if Raikou knew that he'd just visibly blanched.

Swallowing, he turned to Lyra just as she stood up. In the moonlight, her eyes were impossibly dark and her skin seemed pale but soft, like fine satin. She seemed to have something to say, but when she noticed Silver standing there with whatever strange expression he had on his face, she stopped. "Silver…?" she prompted quietly.

_You're hopeless. Go for a hug first, _Raikou coached.

Silver, having received some direction, leaned forward and pulled Lyra into his arms. She made a small noise of shock, but she didn't resist. In fact, her arms snaked around his waist within seconds. "A hug?" she pressed, even though she had her cheek pressed against his sternum.

Silver nodded, resting his chin on her head. This wasn't bad. Heck, initiating an embrace with her wasn't so horrid. It would take getting used to, but Silver sort of liked the idea of taking charge and hugging her for once or taking hold of her for once. Regardless of whether or not he'd done it on Raikou's orders, he was enjoying the feeling that he'd started this. _What the hell do I now that I'm acting completely out of character? _He demanded to Raikou, eager to figure out what else he could do with this acting first initiative.

_Actually…let's take care of this later, _came his voice faintly.

Silver frowned. "Raikou, what's going on?" he asked aloud in a quiet voice.

_Look at the other side of the gorge, you two, _Raikou said. Silver released Lyra and they looked over at the opposite edge of the gorge. Much to their dismay, at least forty of the beasts with glowing red eye stood waiting at the other side. At this distance, their hurled abuse was lost over the roar of the river below. Though their faces weren't visible from afar like this, there was an obvious sense of anticipation in their antsy, twitchy forms.

Lyra's face pulled into that odd, tight grin that she sometimes formed in stressful situations. "I guess they know what we're up to, huh?" she asked, propping her fist on her hip.

To Silver's great surprise, he was angrier that they'd interrupted what he was attempting to initiate with Lyra as opposed to the fact they'd shown up at all. He decided it was a momentary bit of stupidity and he grabbed one of his Pokeballs. "Well, I don't imagine they're just going to let us by nicely, are they?" he asked darkly. "There's only one bridge that'll get us onto the right path for Fortree City going this way, right? And they seem well aware of that."  
"Right. So…we're fighting, then," Lyra said with a heavy sigh. "Prepare yourselves."

Raikou growled melodramatically in the background. _Go figure. I wanted to have a fairly peaceful day of travelling, but forget that, _he grumbled.

"You can take it out on them when they try and rip our throats out in a bit, all right?" Lyra said encouragingly. Silver decided this applied to what Ethan would've called "cock-blocking of the un-sexual sort" that this hoard of ghost beasts had commenced.

He nodded, but it was a dejected nod at best. _Don't expect me to enjoy electrocuting them. _

With that said, the three marched on toward their latest battle. As always, one vowed the least violent revenge possible against the beasts. However, two new motivations had entered the group. One vowed to avenge his day that hadn't been as peaceful as he would've liked it to be, and a certain member wanted to take out another lost day in the three years he'd waste on his own against the beasts.

Silver was certain it would be a monster of a battle.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to yet another riveting episode of "I stacked the information totally wrong in this chapter, but it's 4 am right now, I still haven't gone to bed, and I've barely slept in the past 48 hours, and so long story short: I don't necessarily care if the content of this chapter is not presented as well as it normally is." On top of all of that, I had a hard time writing this chapter because I had a lot of really unusual fluff-driven feelings when I knew the chapter needed a little more zing and darkness. I hope Raikou attempting to coach Silver in showing Lyra some affection there at the end was enough fluff to make up for the overall lack of quality in the latter portions of this chapter._

_So yep, you guessed it. Giratina is causing a crapload of trouble. He's not missing. He's just a jerk with a pretty dark plan. If you guys own DPt and you own a Giratina, check out his Pokedex entry. If you don't, look them up. He's not a nice Pokemon. At all. Since the target audience of most Pokemon games is quite a bit younger than most of you who are reading this story, they have to keep it vague, but you'll get the idea. There's a reason he's not allowed on Earth. ((A friend of mine once likened him to the Pokemon version of Lucifer, and he isn't too far off the mark, I suppose)). His character frightens me a little. If I could, I'd write him as a totally off-his-rocker, crazy-ass psychopath, but I can't bring myself to do that. Aside from his fits of heightened rage, writing him as a little more lax with a massive undercurrent of tension and anger allows me to sleep at night.  
_

_Anyway, enter Latias as well! I said I'd help take care of Morty's "I only train ghosts so now I'm screwed in this situation" issue. For a little twist, I've made her a bit grumpy like Silver or Kuni (unless either of those individuals is around Lyra for any length of time). So many fics with Latias in them have her either totally angsty or so chirpy and sweet that you're scared for her sanity. So a grumpy one with a chip on her shoulder is a little more fun. Plus, she, Ho-oh, and Morty can get squabbly like that. I need them to be as dysfunctional as they can get so that they make the Gym Leaders/Elite Four/Legendary Pokemon of the Hoenn look really bad by the end of the story._

_Lastly, for those of you still asking about other things I might be planning on writing in the future, I'm still thinking about reviving my Sequelshipping AU. The problem is that one would probably end up a lot longer than this one, and that's not a good thing to start when school is starting up in under a month now. Plus-no inspiration. I wrote like 42 pages on it in three weeks at the beginning of summer and now *poof* nothing. I also have a Pokemon story with OCs planned, but that one is so vague in my mind that I wouldn't even know where to start with that at this point. I'm already hoping to finish this fic by the end of September so I don't have to worry about updates with AP classes in the fall, but...eh, who knows?  
_

_Anyway, so thanks for your reviews, follows, favorites, and reads! It makes me happy to log in and know that you guys read this so diligently. And again, you people in Singapore...how are you reading this? Leave a review or PM me or something and just let me know how much sense this makes over there...I don't know why this is so interesting to me. But honestly. Singapore. _

_Please keep reviewing! You guys are amazing, and I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying this story! It's a fun one to right, too, gosh darn it!  
_


	18. Little Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, I would design every rival to be incredibly attractive with interesting, multifaceted personalities so that people could use the rival as a shipping bicycle.

* * *

The swarm of beasts had been prepared to be on the offense, capturing any Pokémon they could from Lyra's and Silver's teams. They thought that, with their sheer numbers, they'd be able to overwhelm them.

Of course, Raikou knew that they had thought wrong.

With almost a sense of ennui in his motion, he discharged a massive amount of electricity that zapped a Xatu and three Shuppet straight from the air, startling the ones on the ground that had moved to stand sentinel by the bridge. "All right, clear out, everyone!" Lyra called from the mouth of the bridge, releasing her Quagsire and her Arcanine. Silver stood a few feet behind her, Crobat and Magnezone hovering by his side. He obviously was concerned about taking up precious space on a bridge they could possibly be battling on in just a few short moments.

Though they were imposing, Raikou didn't sense much fear in the swarm. The vast amount of Duskull line, Kirlia, and other Pokémon that didn't look like they were supposed to be Ghost-types in their normal state looked fairly unimpressed by their presence. Lyra looked to Quagsire. "Show them "

The rubbery-looking Pokémon toddled forward, earning malicious laughter from the swarm of beasts. With the usual placid expression he had, he fired a Water Pulse straight into the heart of the group. At the presence of water all of the beast Pokémon scattered. Some were too close to the edge of the bridge, unfortunately, and toppled off. Lyra cringed, and Raikou knew that it was likely at the thought of those Pokémon falling into water when they reacted so badly to it. "Sorry," she whispered over the edge.

"Don't apologize! Keep acting tough!" Silver hissed, much to Raikou's amusement. There was an innate lack of function in their little group at times.

In spite of the impending threat of water, many of the ghosts began to advance on the group. Raikou noted that the trio of Shuppet and Xatu had regained their flight capabilities and were demonstrating that as they attempted to fly behind the group and hopefully herd them into trouble. _Silver, get Magnezone to keep an eye on those four for me, please, _Raikou murmured to him.

"Watch those bozos, Magnezone," Silver breathed to his Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Lyra had ordered Quagsire to shoot two more warning shots, but it did little to scare away any of the remaining Pokémon. Heaving a sigh, she glanced back at her companions. "Fight hard, boys," she said in a heavy voice. Without missing another beat, she called for her Typhlosion to use Flamethrower.

The battle took under a minute and a half with Raikou and his human friends coming out on top as the victors, but so much had occurred in the short span of time.

Silver immediately ordered Magnezone to use Thunderbolt on the hovering Pokémon and gave Crobat the leeway of "bite anything that bites back". He took delight in swooping on Pokémon like Duskull and gnawing on them happily before depositing them in the river far below. In the melee, Silver wasn't afraid to throw a punch or a kick if it meant not getting bitten or slashed at by Pokémon such as Sableye. He'd obviously been trained in self-defense. There was little error in his form, and there was an alert strength in his stance that suggested that he was naturally calibrated for scuffles such as these.

Lyra, on the other hand, was much less willing to cause damage. She refused to seriously harm any of these Pokémon. Her fighting style was entirely based on incapacitating the beasts or scaring them off; again, she felt terrible about harming Pokémon that were acting badly out some sort of coercion. However, it was an effective style. The lone pair of Dusclops, the muscles of the group, had been scared away by the unstoppable combination of Typhlosion and Quagsire. Their six years together were apparent in the way that they battled. When Quagsire grew tired or confused by the overstimulation, Typhlosion would guard him with the bulk of her body and spew long-range attacks like Flamethrower to scare off the enemy until Quagsire was well enough to use his attacks once more.

The number of beasts had dwindled to a strange, rag-doll Pokémon and a pair of Shuppet that hadn't been entirely deterred by Magnezone's attack. Raikou glowered at them as they cowered in the center of the bridge. Though Silver and Lyra weren't familiar with the species, he'd encountered a number of travelling ones that considered themselves to be "tourists" in the basement of the Burned Tower. He had little patience for them. Without warning, he jolted both Shuppet and the ragdoll Pokémon with a vicious electric current. Aside from Raikou, everyone flinched at the beasts' cries of pain and shock from his attack. The pain was enough to send one Shuppet and the ragdoll Pokémon teleporting messily away. One Shuppet remained frozen in place by Raikou's attack.

"Stop it!" Lyra growled, startling Raikou. He broke off his attack; it hadn't been the best idea to. Icy rage in eyes that burned, the Shuppet took all of three seconds to recover and swoop at Lyra. With a cry of shock she ducked forward. An odd red string hung from her backpack, one that hadn't been properly tucked into its pocket earlier in the day, and just as the Shuppet passed over her back, the string became entangled in its ragged form. Raikou prepared to shock it so that it wouldn't attack Lyra, but it became oddly docile. Hanging by the string, it stared at Lyra with wide, luminous eyes.

Raikou raised his brows. _What did you do to it? _He asked her flatly.

She stared back at the Shuppet. For a moment, Raikou was convinced that she hadn't heard his question, but then she responded, "It's stuck on one of those Destiny Knots that Wally gave us."  
_Isn't that an item that reciprocates infatuation in battles? _Raikou asked, looking for clarification. The name was familiar to him, but he didn't make a point of learning the names of items that humans used on their Pokémon.

Lyra nodded. "Exactly. But…suddenly this little guy is really chill," she muttered. Tentatively, she glanced at Silver and Raikou. "I'm going to talk to this…what species is this?"

_Shuppet, _Raikou answered.

"This…Shuppet. I'll talk to this Shuppet and see if it knows anything," Lyra said, and there was an odd distance in her eyes. Slowly, she reached around behind her, straightened up, and lifted the Pokémon, still entangled in the Destiny Knot, and greeted, "Hello there."

* * *

Lyra watched as the Shuppet blinked at her, confused for a few seconds. "Are you saying hi to me?" it asked in a distinctly female voice.

She nodded, cradling Shuppet in the crook of her arm. "Yes."

Eyes widening, the Shuppet floated upward as far as she could while entangled in the Destiny Knot. "You talk to ghosts? That's really cool!" she cried, smiling. It was a hideous smile, baring jagged fangs that probably didn't normally exist in the little Pokémon's face.

"Is she going to bite you?" Silver asked warily from behind Lyra.

She looked over her shoulder and shook her head. "No, Silver, she's not going to be me," she retorted, exasperated. Looking back to the Shuppet, she frowned. "Why aren't you being violent, anyway?" she added. What had the presence of the Destiny Knot done to Shuppet?

Shuppet gazed down at the red string entangling her body. After a moment's thought, she said, "I got caught in this and suddenly…my mind is clear. Was I aggressive before? I thought I was just having a strange dream." Her luminous eyes clouded, and Lyra knew then that she was confused.

Lyra shook her head. "It wasn't a dream. You and many other Pokémon that are like you attacked us," she explained, feeling awkward as she had to explain this. Did the Shuppet even know how hideous she looked?

Shuppet's eyes grew ever wider. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" she cried, bumping her head against Lyra. "I can't believe I did that. The last thing I remember was talking to my friend Vulpix at Mt. Pyre…and…" Trailing off, she seemed to have lost her train of thought entirely.

A swell of sympathy rose in Lyra's chest. Patting her head gingerly, Lyra murmured, "I'm sorry. There are some strange things going on in this region." The Shuppet's flesh felt icy but smooth in spite of the state of decay it looked to be in.

"Fix it," the Shuppet commanded in a choked-up voice, her eyes brimming with tears. "Please. This is crazy."

_Fix it. _Lyra thought about the two words. Initially, she'd thought that she would only be rescuing her Glaceon from the hideous fate that had befallen her. The more she saw of the beasts, the more she wanted to help them. She didn't believe that any of them had chosen to become the horrid beasts with glowing eyes and a macabre love for violence.

She ducked her head, and a tight smile twisted her features. It was an expression that had started to make itself at home on her face lately; things had gotten incredibly stressful in more ways than one. "I will do my best to help all of you," she said, wiping tears off of the Shuppet's sad face. "Silver and Raikou will, too."

"What are you signing me up for?" Silver asked exasperatedly.

Shuppet floated to peer over Lyra's shoulder at Silver. "He's a bit of a grump, isn't he?" she asked, sniffling.

"Yeah, he is," Lyra said, shooting a grin over her shoulder him. He seemed taken aback by her sincere grin. Focusing her attention on Shuppet once more, she said, "We're going to do whatever we can to help you, okay?"

She nodded. Suddenly, she seemed to frown. "There's something that smells…really good…" Floating over Lyra's shoulder, she poked at her backpack. "There's something in the front pocket that smells really, really good."

Lyra took off her backpack, doing her best to not accidentally tug on Shuppet too hard, considering that she was still entangled with the backpack. Nosing the front pocket, she said, "Open it."

She obliged and tugged the zipper open. Her fingers brushed against a bundle of ruffled leaves…the Mental Herbs that Wally had given her? She tugged one of the leaves free and held it out to Shuppet. "Is this it?" she asked quietly.

Shuppet's eyes glowed. "Oh, Arceus, yes," she breathed. She opened her jaws wide and snatched the leaf from Lyra's hands, swallowing it whole. Moments after she swallowed, she suddenly fell straight from the air. With a cry of shock, Lyra caught the falling Shuppet straight from the air and collapsed forward onto her knees. Silver, Raikou, and the four Pokémon used for battling earlier gathered in a loose circle around them. Shuppet began convulsing silently in Lyra's arms, retching and rippling.

"Shuppet?" Lyra whispered.

Shuppet's eyes opened, and the red glow that once suffused them had disappeared, leaving reflective yellow and blue eyes in their place that immediately snapped shut, squinted shut against inner pain. Slowly, the ragged line that marked her jaws healed, showing off a tiny, fang-less mouth. Her tattered looks smoothed, showing off a soft, cloth-like body that felt silky and warm to the touch, unlike that of most ghosts. Shuppet quit shaking. Her body sprawled limply against Lyra's legs. As if pulled by invisible forces, the Destiny Knot fell free from her body, coiling uselessly on the ground below.

Lyra shook Shuppet gently. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at Lyra groggily. "What just happened?" she asked quietly.

"You ate a Mental Herb…and now you're normal," Lyra realized aloud.

Shuppet rose from Lyra's lap, gazing at the world around her. "I feel awake now," she breathed. Turning to Lyra, she threw herself happily against Lyra's chest. "You fixed me!" she exclaimed.

Lyra embraced the Shuppet, marveling at her warmth. "This is great!" Lyra exclaimed, taking hold of Shuppet and holding her out at arm's length. "You've been great help. We know how to help out the others," she said, releasing Shuppet from her grip.

Shuppet shot her a smile. "Thank you. Who are you?"  
"I'm Lyra. That redheaded weirdo is Silver, and the big yellow Pokémon is Raikou." Pointing to each Pokémon as she introduced them, she said, "That's Crobat—he likes to bite. Magnezone is that big gray one. The blue one is Quagsire, and the one shooting fire from her back is Typhlosion."

Shuppet's head seemed to reel from the many names, but she nodded. Timidly, she asked, "Can I…travel with you guys? I think I'd be safe with you, seeing as my home probably isn't anymore…"

Lyra gave it very little thought. She was obviously a young, terrified Shuppet who was currently homeless. Why shouldn't she travel with them? "Of course you can come with. We'll keep you safe."

"Are you taking in more strays, Lyra?" Silver asked tetchily as Shuppet once again threw herself into Lyra's arms

She laughed at Silver, petting Shuppet's head kindly. "Hey, this is only the second time. You saw how well the first time worked."

"That Arcanine of yours is pretty powerful, I guess," he said, not sounding nearly as annoyed as he probably hoped to. "Besides, what if Shuppet reverts to that state?"  
_She smells nothing like one of those beasts anymore, _Raikou informed him helpfully.

He rolled his eyes. Focusing on Shuppet, he greeted, "Welcome to the team, I guess."

Lyra, Shuppet, and Raikou exchanged glances as Silver started off. Without any further conversation, they followed him across the bridge and north toward Fortree City.

* * *

"Okay, if you can fly, why are you sitting on Ho-oh's back right now like some common idiot human?"

_I flew for three days straight looking for him. I think I deserve a break._

"But do you have to be in your creepy little human form?"

_Is it that displeasing to you, Morty?_

"I can't comment. You look about eleven years old, and that's illegal."

_You're so very boring._

"You're so very angry and mean all the time."  
_Ah, do you hear that sound? That would be me not caring. _

Latias and Morty were not off to a good start in their working relationship. As they detoured to the southwest to avoid a large cloud of Golbat and Crobat beasts, they argued incessantly. In the moment, Latias was very comfortable portraying herself as a human to rest; plus, she was very fond of that form. Twelve years ago, there was a young lass that she'd befriended with the very face that she wore, and with all of the love in her heart for that young girl and all of the pain of missing her after her passing, Latias donned her visage. Morty didn't understand this one bit. In fact, he didn't seem to understand much about females in general. Aside from the one young female that he saw as having lovely chestnut hair and the most trusting brown eyes he'd ever seen, Latias sensed that he really only knew about Pokémon and how to make a man named Eusine be quiet. His thoughts were completely unguarded. Most humans had very unguarded thoughts as it was due to their lack of psychic power and therefore a lack of knowledge that others might be reading or sensing their every thought.

Ho-oh, on the other hand, was a Pokémon that Latias got along with swimmingly. The moment the two met there was a sparked kinship—whether it was their general distaste aimed at Morty or their mildly sadistic natures, they were able to talk openly about everything. He'd been surprised by her nature; it was common knowledge that the Eon duo of Latios and Latias were supposed to be loving and kind by nature.

_You have suffered a lot, have you not? _Ho-oh had asked her.

She had merely responded with, _I suppose you could say that. _It left much up to the imagination, but she had decided as soon as she saw Morty stupidly staring at her that this was a working relationship, not one where she disclosed her past and her interests to the individuals she worked with.

Latias sensed that it was very late, and her three days of endless flying and sleeping were catching up to her. Still in the disguise of her human friend, she flopped backwards so that she was leaning against Morty's chest, mostly to irritate him. _I'm exhausted. I'll just sleep here._

"Um, no, you will _not _sleep here."  
_Oh, then where will I sleep?_

Ho-oh sighed loudly. _Morty. Let the lass sleep. She's not harming you, is she?_

"My masculinity is dying very quickly?"

_You had any to begin with? _Ho-oh asked sharply.

Latias let out a trill of laughter before snuggling deep into his chest. _Just pretend I'm that cute brown-eyed girl you seem to have feelings for._

Groaning, Morty scratched at his forehead. He muttered, "I did not sign up for this."

_Be glad I've decided to help you out. I'm portable and resourceful, and also willing to help you and Ho-oh out. The Regis aren't. Rayquaza is a bastard-coated bastard with bastard filling. Groudon hasn't moved at all in two years and Kyogre is an elitist b****. Don't get me started on Deoxys and all of his issues, or how Jirachi isn't supposed to wake up from his thousand-year sleep until this May—_

"I get it. You're a hard-working martyr, stepping down from Heaven itself to help the stupid foreigners with a problem that the people of your region should be solving on their own. Now go to sleep."

_Thank you. _She closed her eyes and fell asleep in minutes in spite of the droning winds and the thoughts of the other Legendaries dancing through her mind.

* * *

It was half past two in the morning when the first raindrops fell.

Silver and his companions had been plodding up the path to Fortree City when the sky, once brimming with more stars than Silver had ever seen in his life, now was laden with jet-black clouds that had made Raikou's electricity and Lyra's high-powered flashlight necessary to see. Tempted to complain about the conditions, Silver kept his mouth shut. The rain would keep the beasts away, seeing as water seemed to be a major deterrent for them.

It made him think of their successful accident in entangling Shuppet with the Destiny Knot earlier. Now cured of the strange condition, the little Pokémon chattered happily at Lyra, who managed to get in all of three words around her or so Silver estimated, and seemed quite the opposite of the beasts—or any normal Ghost Pokémon, for that matter. It made him think of Lyra's flirty little Glaceon. He wondered how hideous and angry she'd be, and he also couldn't help but wonder how Lyra would react if they found her in that sort of condition.

Now the rain poured steadily from the sky, soaking through his clothes. "Hey guys," Silver called, feeling rainwater drip from his forehead and down his nose. "Shouldn't we try to find somewhere dry for now? I mean, Lyra just had a fever—"

"Silver, don't worry about me so much!" Lyra exclaimed, glancing at him in the stark glow of her flashlight. "I'm fine." All of three seconds after she said that, she suddenly sneezed sonorously, scaring her new little Shuppet friend.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Nope. We're going to go find somewhere warm and dry to stay. Plus…it's two-thirty in the morning. Even if we slept a while today, it'd be a nice idea to sleep now."

"You're not my mother!" she complained. She sneezed again and muttered, "Dammit!" Raikou chuffed at her, for once not commenting on what she said.

He looked ahead and noticed warm lights glowing in the distance. They seemed to belong to a long, expansive building with primarily glass walls. "Let's go check out that place. It looks pretty warm to me," Silver said in the most obnoxious tone he could manage.

She shot him a sidelong glower. "You are so facetious."

Her words dragged a legitimate, not-at-all-smirking grin from him. He dropped back around Raikou, who was currently walking in the center of their group, and moved to walk beside her. Falling into step with her, he said, "This isn't a college entrance exam essay. This is a stupid conversation that we're having."

She stuck her tongue out at him and sneezed once more. "Bless me," she muttered before adding, "Well, I like using good vocabulary. For example, what is that incredible structure off in the blue yonder that you would like us to rest our weary heads in?"

"The building? No clue. Raikou?"

_What makes you think I know? I'm a Johto Pokémon, you moron. Ask Shuppet._

Silver groaned and gave the Ghost-type a pointed look. "Well?" he asked.

She murmured something in her soft voice to Lyra, who then relayed, "She thinks that it's the Weather Institute. A ton of meteorologists work there studying climate change and weather patterns in the Hoenn. And most of them are live-in, so we'll have no issues going in and asking for a place to stay for the rest of the night."

"We'll get out of the rain at a place that studies rain," Silver murmured to himself, wondering if it was only interesting or funny to him because it was half-past two in the morning.

Lyra whacked his arm. "C'mon. Let's hurry and get out of the rain already." They darted toward the Weather Institute, the water they kicked up from the grass the only hint that they had ever been there.

No more than ten minutes after this comment, Lyra and Silver were inside and free of the rain. Raikou, who reveled in the rain and the possibility of lightning, was more than glad to stay outside. Shuppet decided to stay with him; human establishments made her nervous as a wild Pokémon. After much attempted coaxing and prodding, Shuppet rejected the idea entirely and cuddled into Raikou's mane.

Silver figured it was her loss.

The people working at the Weather Institute must not have understood the concept of sleep, Silver hypothesized, as one middle-aged, balding meteorologist with a steaming mug of espresso opened the door for Lyra, Silver, and Shuppet no less than thirty seconds after Lyra knocked on the door. "Oh, hi, kids! Are you travelers?" the man asked immediately, smiling warmly.

"Yes. We'd like to get out of the rain," Lyra said, shooting a reproachful glance at Silver. He shot her his most winning smile, which made her elbow him as the meteorologist leaned back and announced their presence to the other meteorologists.

Not long after this, he showed them to the room they'd share. It was a sterile-looking bedroom with two full-sized beds and wall made entirely of glass that overlooked the rain outside. "You two sleep well now. In the morning, you can use our showers and eat breakfast with us, if you like."

"Certainly," Lyra said before Silver could reject the enthusiastic meteorologist.

He left moments later, leaving Silver and Lyra alone in the room. They were dripping wet, leaving puddles on the wooden floor under their feet, and shivering slightly in the air-conditioning. "If we just turn our backs to each other while we're changing, this shouldn't be a problem," Lyra decided aloud.

"All right."

After drawing the massive, off-white curtains, Lyra and Silver slipped free of their wet clothing and into warmer ones. Silver decided to forgo wearing any of his new clothes tonight and pulled on a pair of oversized gray sweatpants on. Lyra obviously had to throw on a little more clothing than her rival, and it took her a good three minutes before she said, "Okay, you can turn around now."

Silver obliged. She was wearing another pair of pajamas that were far too cute; these ones were just simple ivory ones in some sort of silky fabric. Her wet hair hung over one shoulder and down almost to the crook of her elbow. It made her look incredibly huggable—Silver didn't even object to his usage of the world huggable. The longer he was around her suddenly, the less he cared about looking tough and acting unfazed. It was like she was a varnish remover, and his old attitude had been a really tough, tawdry sort of stain. She gave him a smile before padding over to her own bed. "Your hair is really long when it's wet," she said.

Silver touched the ends of his hair. He could feel them creeping down the back of his neck like villainous tentacles. "Uh…yeah. I suppose it is," he said, feeling particularly intelligent with that reply.

Lyra giggled and pulled herself under the covers. "I like it long. It works for you."

"Thanks, I guess." He watched her start to snuggle under the covers, and he looked at the bed he was supposed to sleep in. It looked sterile and lonely. Looking back to where Lyra had cuddled into the covers, he realized how much more inviting and comfortable it looked with Lyra falling asleep in it. "Lyra?" he started to ask, but then he realized he had no idea how to voice this question without making it sound like he was propositioning his rival for sex.

She propped herself up one elbow, raising one eyebrow in question. "What's up?" she asked, scratching at her jaw with her free hand.

Before Silver could help himself, he stated, "I want to sleep in your bed." _That came out wrong, _he realized immediately, but it was too late to recant.

Lyra had an expression akin to be slapped in the face for a moment. Clearly she hadn't been expecting that question. After a few moments, she nodded. "Feel free to." She scooted further toward the side in the bed, making room for her rival.

He tentatively padded over to her bed. Gingerly, he slid under the covers next to Lyra and laid there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling. He heard her chuckle beside him, "Silver? You don't have to worry about sides of the bed. Whenever we fall asleep, we're both going to end up moving, anyway. We're not exactly heavy sleepers, you and I."  
Silver shifted a fraction of a millimeter in her direction. "Okay."

She laughed at him, and then rolled over on her side to face in his direction. Her eyes were closed, exposing her thick, dark lashes to him. It was one physical trait that they both shared. "Goodnight," she breathed, and then rolled over so her back was to him.

"Same to you," he said.

When he was certain that she was asleep, Silver rolled onto his side facing her. He didn't even think about it as he reached out and dragged her toward him until she fit right into the curve of his body. Suddenly, he felt warmer with her there like that. He rested his forehead comfortably against the back of her head, marveling at the scent of rain that lingered in her hair, and wrapped his free arm over her waist. _If she gives me hell for this in the morning, I honestly won't mind, _Silver thought, exhaustion overriding his system. _I just had a taste of everything I've ever truly wanted earlier, and now…I guess I just want this even more. _Not long after this, he fell asleep, his dreams filled with pleasant thoughts and colors of a gentle candle flame and slowly swirling river water.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "Another chapter that begins with crucial information and ends with inane amounts of fluff that I'm usually not comfortable with writing, but this one didn't even transition into a slight battle scene this time! And look at that inane amount of Soulsilvershipping!" So anyway, let's welcome our newly-converted friend Shuppet onto Lyra's team. I figured since we have a fiery, not-at-all sweet and gentle Latias, we can have a cute and silly Shuppet. Breaking the molds here, folks!_

_Kudos to anyone who catches any of the out-of-universe references in Latias's rant about the other Hoenn Legendaries. Some are very vague, and some are very obvious. _

_I got a PM not too far back asking when Kris and Suicune will show up again. I will reward you for your waiting, I promise!_

_I'd also like to mention that this story has now been published for a month! Yaaay! This is also the ninth chapter I've completed in the span of a month!The rest had been prewritten (as I mentioned earlier) You guys have no idea how incredible this writing speed is for me, honestly. Can't wait to watch that go down the drain during the school year..._

_So speaking of update speed, I have an audition tomorrow for an elite vocal group as well as a concert to perform at. If I make it into the vocal group, I'll spent two and a half days in "boot camp" for it, and chances are I won't have a lot of time to write in those couple of days. However, if I don't, the next one will be the same speed as always._

_Anyway..._

_Thanks again to all of my readers/favoriters/reviewers! I'm glad that you guys seem to be enjoying this story! Kudos to my readers from Germany-I've given Singapore a lot of love, let's give Germany some, too._

_Please review! Your thoughts on this story are important, guys. I'm writing this because it's fun, but I also want you all to enjoy it as well. Until next update, stay safe, don't drink and drive, and remember that wearing clean socks every day will make you and everyone else around you into happier people._


	19. Dignity

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there'd certainly be a Mega Zangoose, and he'd be one muscular mongoose with massive claws.

* * *

"Hey, Suicune, what's that big tower over there?"

It had been at least ten hours since Kris had spoken on their journey southwest into the Hoenn to locate Entei. Suicune had been running for a day straight, her human companion alternating between sleeping and making comments about the ocean and the Pokémon that thrived in its depths for a good portion of the trip. She had obviously returned to commentating about the scenery—in particular, the tall, ancient tower rising from the sea in the distance.

Suicune gazed at it for a moment before responding, _That is Sky Pillar. Rayquaza makes his home there._

Kris smiled—Suicune didn't even have to see the human girl's face to know when she was or wasn't or smiling. "That's the big green one, right? With the really long body?"

_Yes. If I remember correctly, he has a foul temperament._

"Damned if I care. HEY RAYQUAZA!" she boomed at the top of her voice, making Suicune cringe both internally and externally. "NICE TO SEE YOUR TOWER! IT'S PRETTY!"

Suicune slowed to a halt on the water and glowered at Kris. _What are you even thinking, child?! _She asked harshly. _Rayquaza is powerful beyond compare in this region!_

Unaffected by Suicune's fierce glare, she cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, "Hey, so my friend here just said you're super powerful! If you're up there, why aren't you at Mt. Pyre makin' yourself useful? Your region's falling to shit right now, and if you're just sleeping up there, that's pretty useless!"

Suicune wanted to disappear, though she realized that Kris's thoughts were angled in the direction of hopefully angering an otherwise unhelpful Legendary into helping out with the despicable state of the region. After all, when they were last in the Hoenn, every Legendary was dormant through the Hoenn's impending peril. That meant her young human friend was asking for trouble, and she was in no mood to bail the young Trainer out of any trouble she caused. _I will leave you here with him if you have infuriated him, _Suicune threatened, baring her fangs.

A Hyper Beam blazed from the roof of Sky Pillar, slicing across the sea toward Suicune and Kris.

Suicune immediately sprang into action. _Forget my prior threat. I will get us out of this mess, and then you will suffer shortly after, _Suicune threatened as she bounded across the waters and away from the incredibly loud roar that split the air.

She didn't get far before a voice spiked its way into her head. _Who are you? Who is insulting my motives with their crass voice? _rumbled a frighteningly gruff male voice.

Kris must have heard it as well, for she turned in the direction of Sky Pillar and called, "I'm Kris! And you're Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon!"

_Do not even begin to identify me with your limited human language, _Rayquaza hissed. Suicune watched as the winding green Pokémon lifted off from the top of the tower. She marveled at how impossibly long his body seemed. That body also moved impossibly fast. Within seconds he flew so close to Suicune and Kris that the former could count the number of razor-sharp fangs hidden in his jaw. Dragging himself to a halt all of twenty feet away, his body immediately coiled into a scaly green barrier, not allowing his human tormentor and frustrated steed to escape.

Kris twisted to face the Rayquaza. Though her face seemed impassive, Suicune felt her heart pound violently in her chest. "Well, excuse me and my 'limited human language'," Kris said loftily, tossing up some air quotes that made Rayquaza narrow his yellow eyes even further. "So let me tell you a thing or two. This is your region. You always come back here, even though you roam all the skies that this planet has to offer. They built a tower here, just for you."

_That was over eight hundred years ago, _Rayquaza said, but there was a soft, wistful quality to his voice that was ill-disguised. _But what does it matter? I know of what is occurring at Mt. Pyre. However, there is no good reason for me to help out. _

"Are you retarded?! This is your f***ing region!" Kris roared. "If you're so big and powerful, why the hell are you running scared like a little Swablu from a nest full of Skarmory?"

Rayquaza's tiny pupils dilated; his wide maw opened, as if he planned to blast them from the face of the earth with another one of his destructive Hyper Beams. Suicune looked for a way out, but his body blocked all fast exits. Plus, in the circle of his back, she and Kris were essentially sitting Farfetch'd. They'd be dead in a snap. In spite of this, Kris let loose a booming laughing. "Didn't your ma ever tell you that you don't kill the messenger? Or at least some little tidbit of advice like that?" Kris asked. Suicune could feel her heart race, but she was impressed by the lack of fear in her voice. "I'll bet you she didn't. Now, if you kill us, you're a coward. Plus, I'll bet you an urn or a coffin that you'd fly right back up to Sky Pillar for a nice little nap. And when shit hits the fan in the Hoenn, everyone's gonna wonder why you didn't help out."

_Don't you dare predict my behavior! _Rayquaza growled, but now the circle of his body loosened. _Are you content? You have tarnished the reputation I've held of myself in my own mind. I will go to Mt. Pyre. I will see what I can do. I cannot promise I will be able to fix anything. _Without warning, he took off, spraying Suicune and Kris with chilly ocean water.

Suicune was immobile for a good fifteen seconds before she whirled on Kris. _Are you mad?! You could have gotten us killed there!_

"But look at Rayquaza, flying his big green butt off to Mt. Pyre."

_You are utterly hopeless, _Suicune snarled as she charged north, following Rayquaza's path.

Kris suddenly laughed. "Suicune…you were going in the wrong direction if we were gonna go to Mt. Pyre. Were you hoping I'd piss off Rayquaza so he'd help out?"  
_No. You are mistaken, _Suicune responded. Kris was astute and had guessed correctly as to Suicune's hidden motive, but there was absolutely no way that she'd tell her human companion that.

In Rayquaza's wake, the duo headed north, feeling accomplished for their contribution in the battle against the strange ghosts that plagued the Hoenn.

* * *

Silver was comfortably asleep until Lyra's gentle voice eased him out of the dark warmth of sleep.

"Hey. Sleepyhead. It's time to get up. We need to get moving if we're going to make it to Mt. Pyre by nightfall," she murmured.

Silver's eyes opened blearily. The first thing he saw was Lyra's legs from the knee-up as she knelt on the bed. He closed his eyes again. "What time is it?" It either felt too early or like he hadn't slept nearly enough last night.

Lyra sighed, but it wasn't an incensed sound. "It's a quarter to eight."

"Give me another half an hour," Silver garbled.

It took him all of a few seconds to fall half-asleep once more. However, Lyra had other plans. Hands grabbed at his shoulder and shook him fairly gently. "I don't want to waste any more time looking for Glaceon," she breathed.

"She's probably a beast now. There's nothing wrong with me sleeping another half an hour," he grumbled crabbily.

"Yes. But we cured Shuppet, and I want to cure Glaceon, too," she said, and there was urgency in her voice. "Can we please get going?"

Silver opened his eyes and sat up. While slouched, his head was about even with Lyra's. Without bothering to disguise it, he gave a long, sweeping look up her body. Jean shorts that emphasized the slight curve of her inner thigh, a white tank top that hung low on her chest, and a red plaid button-up with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. It was a good look on her. "Ta-da. I'm sitting up."

"For your next trick, how about you get dressed?" Lyra asked, poking his arm playfully.

"Terrible segue," Silver muttered as he slid off the bed. "Take your terrible segue and get out of here. I'm going to get dressed."

She slid off the bed and padded toward the door. Before she left entirely, she murmured, "You know…it's not a bad thing, waking up in your arms." Then, she opened the door and trotted out, leaving Silver totally breathless.

_Does she actually…like me? _Silver thought in confusion, standing in the center of the room. The cold floor beneath his feet felt distant, along with the stale chill of the air conditioning. He brought his hand to his forehead and stared at a spot on the wall. _Holy shit. She…she could actually like me._

* * *

Lyra leaned against the wall near the exit to the Weather Institute. She had a headache throbbing behind her left eye, and she felt nearly crippled with a sudden onslaught of nausea, but she accredited that to sleeping for too short of a time and the aftereffects of being cursed. Not only that, but everything seemed too bright. She fished aviator sunglasses out of her bag, along with a hair tie. A minute later, her hair was sloppily pulled back into a low ponytail and her eyes were properly shielded from the light. _Much better, _she thought, sighing.

"That boy you came in with last night is awful cute," sang a girl's voice. Lyra turned to her left slightly to see a girl about her age with caramel-toned skin and short, curly hair of a similar color wearing a lab coat over a short green dress. She smiled at Lyra's confused expression. "Oh. Sorry. I'm a lab assistant here. My name's Mattie. I take care of the Castform and record their behavior, mostly, since these little guys are pretty new Pokémon." As if on a cue, a trio of small gray Pokémon with rounded heads flew around the corner at her, throwing themselves into her arms.

Lyra couldn't help but smile at the adorable Pokémon. "My name is Lyra, by the way. And those Castform are so cute."

"Speaking of cute…the guy you came in with," the girl said, raising her eyebrows. Lyra figured she could learn a thing or two about segues from this girl. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Lyra shook her head, but she admitted, "He's a friend who kind of confuses me."

"What do you mean?"

"We spent three years apart because of something stupid. And now we're here together and everything is moving so fast. We came looking for one of my Pokémon in this region, and suddenly I just…" she sighed. "I don't even know."

"So you like him, then?" Mattie asked with a wry grin. One of the Castform drifted over to Lyra, insisting loudly in his cutesy babbling that she pet his head.

Lyra petted the Castform for a moment before responding, "It doesn't make sense for me to like him, but yes."

"How doesn't it make sense?"

"We spent three years not talking over a stupid moment in a Kanto town, and now it's just…it's like I'm feeling every little thing I ever felt with him back then again, but it's like it's slamming me through a wall." Lyra sighed heavily, tickling the Castform under the chin halfheartedly. "Last night…we slept in the same bed."

Mattie gasped melodramatically. "Oh wow! The same bed? Did you do some spooning?"

"…yeah."

A sly smile crept over Mattie's features. She whispered, "Remember, kiddies…spooning leads to forking." Lyra blushed violently at the words and took a few steps back as Mattie added apologetically, "Sorry. My cousin's sage advice. Anyway…is that something you want to do more of?"

"Of course!" Lyra declared and then clapped her hands over her mouth. "I mean…oh Arceus…" She stared at her feet, aghast. _I…am really into Silver. Three years and a massive blowout changed nothing about that._

Mattie reached over and patted her on the shoulder. "Then go get him when the time is right. When I saw you guys come in last night, he kind of only had eyes for you. In the meantime, go find your Pokémon. Is your Pokemon a Ghost-type who got sucked into the Mt. Pyre incident?"

"Ice-type who knew Shadow Ball—a Glaceon, if you know what that one is," Lyra said. Her head reeled at the thought of Silver being in love with her along with the sudden feeling of loss that she had concerning Glaceon.

Mattie began to nod as Silver appeared. He had gray cargo pants and a black t-shirt on; Lyra knew he never really deviated from his general style. "I can't believe I'm awake right now," he muttered groggily. He shot Mattie a dubious look. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Mattie. I work here," she said, hugging a particularly demanding Castform. "I just saw your girlfriend waiting here and thought she looked lonely, so we started talking."

"Nice to meet you, but it's time for us to go now," Silver said, not at all objecting to Mattie's false label of Lyra, and he took Lyra by the forearm. The Castform she was petting shirked away from Silver's serious gaze.

Mattie gave Lyra a pointed look as the duo left the Weather Institute. Lyra glanced at Silver as he led her away. Was he really interested in her the way that Mattie said he was? She slid her arm out of his grasp and let her fingers linger in his warm palm before freeing herself. "So…I guess we cross that bridge over there," she said, pointing at the bridge spanning the same ravine that they'd knocked many ghosts into the night before, "and from there, we walk up the hill and into Fortree City."

Silver gazed down at her, nodding. Though he stood very close to her, his eyes were far more guarded than they had been in the past few days as he added, "We'll just pass through so we don't waste more time today."

"My thoughts exactly." As they started over the bridge, Raikou and Shuppet joined them, appearing from the tall grass behind them.

_Did you two sleep well? _Raikou asked Lyra slyly after they exchanged greetings.

She nodded, albeit bashfully. "Yes. We didn't sleep long, but we slept well."

Shuppet nuzzled against Lyra's cheek. She exclaimed, "I'm glad you're back!"

"Are you okay in the daylight like this?" Lyra asked Shuppet, concerned about whether the long-term exposure to sunlight would harm her.

Nodding happily, Shuppet fluttered onto Raikou's back and snuggled into his tumultuous mane. "It won't hurt me. Don't worry," she said gently. "Let's go to Mt. Pyre and kick some ass, okay?"  
"Well, we need a plan first, but yeah. We'll be doing that soon," Lyra said.

The two humans and their Pokémon companions headed toward Fortree City, the town in the treetops of a mountain jungle.

* * *

Mellow the Absol had been sleeping very peacefully in the shade of a tall tree slightly north of Mt. Pyre when a bone-rattling roar startled her awake. _Giratina? _She wondered, dazed by sleep. All it took was a glance over at Mt. Pyre to tell her that the roar was not Giratina's, and there was trouble afoot…or aflight, for lack of a better word.

Rayquaza was here and causing mass destruction.

Unleashing a powerful Hyper Beam, Rayquaza completely cleaned the sky of the Xatu, Golbat and Zubat that had just been preparing to intercept Ho-oh and his allies. _Damn it, _she thought, springing to action. Leaping from the cliff, she activated her newly-acquired ghost powers to take flight, Mellow soared toward Rayquaza as he tore through a cloud of Dusknoir with little more than a crunch of his jaws.

Just as she got close, he swung his tail around and slammed her upward, straight into Giratina's rift into the Distortion World. Mellow slammed into a gravity-defying pillar of rock and flopped to the ground. Pain burned and slithered through her muscles at the impact. "Giratina!" she called, her voice rasping horribly against her throat. "It's Rayquaza!"

The sound of tentacles slithering over rocks greeted her before Giratina's voice did. "I'd like to see how much damage he does, Mellow. I've only heard of his power in passing."

Mellow sat up, cringing as Giratina slithered beside her, watching Rayquaza's wrath through the exit from the Distortion World. "He is a weapon," Giratina whispered wondrously. It reminded Mellow of a human girl with a crush on an attractive celebrity. "Look at how he dispatches his enemies. He can even make his Hyper Beam effective on the Ghost-type. How incredible."

"He will tear you to pieces," Entei growled from behind them. Mellow glanced back at him. The gash on his face had already closed up, but Mellow sensed that there would be a scar there. "The moment you go out there to battle him, he will kill you, and he will not feel any regret over doing so."

Giratina chuckled. "I doubt that."

Meanwhile, Rayquaza bit a Duskull with such force that a strange, dark substance leaked from its body. He tossed its body aside before tearing apart a cloud of Shuppet and Banette with a devastating Hyper Beam. The number of ghosts willing to fight had shrunk considerably in the five minutes he'd been fighting. "Giratina, you need to stop him," Mellow said, struggling to stand again.

"Oh, Mellow, I think _you'd _be better at stopping him," he said, brushing a tentacle along Mellow's back. "You are a killing machine, after all. I haven't left the Distortion World in years. What makes you think I am as ruthless and dangerous as I used to be?"

Mellow finally planted all four legs, breathing heavily. "I can hardly stand," she murmured, her head dipped as she tried to catch her breath.

"Go fight him now, Mellow, or I will remove your blade," Giratina hissed, "and I will do it forcefully."

Mellow stood, her legs shaking. "I'll go…" she breathed. Staggering, she pushed through the thin, shady barrier between the Distortion World and Earth and floated shakily out. _I have to fight, _she thought weakly, though she felt as though she might collapse at any moment. Her impact against the rock pillar had been brutal; maybe at optimal health this battle might have been slightly less impossible than it already seemed. Frankly, Mellow had little hope of leaving alive. She prepared a Razor Wind attack in advance; it would be far more powerful once she was able to reach her enemy.

Rayquaza wheeled around in her direction as she floated closer. "I will ask you to leave now before I decide to put you out of commission for eons, miss," Rayquaza rumbled, eyes narrowed frighteningly.

Shooting a cold smile in his direction, Mellow fired off a Razor Wind attack at him. It took him off guard, tearing gory lines across his neck. Rayquaza snarled and raced toward her. Though he had the advantage of physical power and speed, Mellow had spent years fighting for her life. She wasn't about to make the same mistakes twice with him. She slid easily under his belly, turning her blade up to nick his underside. Rayquaza roared and turned quickly to bite at the Absol. Twisting away from his jaws she allowed herself to plummet from the air. Rayquaza charged up a Hyper Beam, but Absol caught air quickly, floating upward and to the slightly to left to avoid the blast.

Roaring with frustration, Rayquaza took off after her as she used the landscape of Mt. Pyre to avoid his incredibly physical attacks. The rock face on the side of the mountain took quite a beating with each rock and gravestone he slammed into with his claws, tail or jaws. Razing the mountain with his Hyper Beam, he missed Mellow again and again. Though she was in increasingly intense pain, she wasn't going to let this massive green abomination get the best of her. His claws and fangs only managed to graze her at best while she had managed to cut him open in a few key places.

As she dug her blade into the side of his face, she heard Giratina's voice come into her mind. _Cut his throat open. End this._

Mellow faltered in mid-slice at the order. Rayquaza took the opportunity to throw her hard into a gravestone, making her vision falter. _Why? _Mellow asked, struggling to dodge the next flash of fangs. _I can't just kill a trio master! Do you have any idea how catastrophic that is? It could possibly even ruin your plan!_

Giratina seemed to laugh ruefully as Mellow fired a weak Shadow Ball attack at Rayquaza that barely even made him flinch. _If you can't kill him, then I'll let him kill you before I intervene. I can't have my second in command backing out at the idea of killing her enemies._

Mellow's eyes widened as she rolled out of the way of Rayquaza's curved green claws. She'd joined Giratina because she'd always been a freak, an outcast…and so had he. It had felt empowering to work at his side and be his most-trusted partner, aside from the head of the Dusknoir, and suddenly he was casting her aside like the rest of humanity and Pokémon had, just because she didn't feel that it was the best idea to kill the trio master of the Weather Trio, an important one in terms of keeping worldly balance. She realized just how insane she was in that moment. The feeling was more crippling than being thrown against rock walls repeatedly.

She stood one last time, her legs quaking. Everything ached; it was time to end this…and it would end with Rayquaza alive. "Kill me," she said plainly, fearless as to what would possibly come next. Baring the once-white ruff on her chest, she nodded. "Rip my throat out. Blast my chest out. Whatever it may be, end it."  
Rayquaza gazed at her, puzzled. "Why?" he asked.

"He will make me kill you," she admitted, casting her gaze downward. "I can't do that. Too much depends upon you."

Rayquaza seemed to frown, although expressions were very limited with his face. "You are an incredible warrior and a sharp tactician. I would be doing you a great disservice if I killed you," he said. Bringing a claw to his stomach, he added, "It has been many millennia since any have managed to mark my body. I believe that you are the first one that is not Legendary to have ever done so."

"Then kill me for harming you," Mellow growled, baring her throat once more. "Just…make it quick. I've suffered enough in this world, being treated like a freak and a monster no matter what I do."

After a moment's deliberation, Rayquaza said, "I shall do what you ask. The ending will not be quite like you expect, though." Before Mellow could register his words, his tail whipped toward her head blindingly fast. A bright light tinged with pain filled her vision and the strength went from her legs, along with the light that filled her vision. She didn't feel herself hit the ground—something lifted her up. In that moment, she wondered if it was a Dusknoir ferrying her soul to the afterlife. Then, everything faded, and Mellow disappeared into herself.

* * *

"I can't hear her thoughts anymore," Giratina whispered to himself as boulders tumbled from the rock face and Rayquaza soared off. His former second-in-command was dead. Turning to look over one shoulder, he noticed Entei looking at him with total disgust. "So? She chose her fate. She chose to die, Entei. I gave her an ultimatum, and she chose what she chose. Why do you glare at me with eyes that seek fault?"

He glared at the Legendary who had so clearly snapped long ago. "As an Absol, she was already an outcast. You've forced her to die an outcast, too, since you cast her out yourself."

Giratina rolled his eyes before slithering around Entei's holding place. As he passed, he said, "So be it. I've only lived for millennia as an outcast, Entei. At least she has the respite of death. That is not a thing I will ever have. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to complete the final portion of my plan."

"Whatever _that _is," Entei muttered to himself.

Laughing hollowly, Giratina retreated into the depths of his Distortion World. "You'll only know when it's too late, my friend."

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "Holy shit it's been six days since I updated, but at least the quality of this update has increased!" Or, at least, I feel that the quality of this update was better than the last one.  
_

_So...I have to get it out of the way...I made it into the vocal jazz group! I'm a contralto singing alto-basically, that means I have a very low singing voice for a girl. But anyway, those auditions and then the "boot camps" after were really harrowing. I honestly don't know how I survived around all of those primadonna sopranos. Crikey, mate!_

_Now, here's some tidbits about It's Been A While, as I always do..._

_Giratina became very Christopher Nolan's Joker in this update, if you don't mind my out-of-universe reference. Like wow. Telling Mellow to kill or be killed. Anyway, if you're not catching my drift, watch Christopher Nolan's Batman movies-so Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. They weren't great movies by any stretch of the imagination, but man, Heath Ledger's Joker was something else..._

_What's this? Morty didn't make an appearance this chapter? I'm just going to admit right now that I didn't feel like having Morty bicker with Latias and get yelled at by Ho-oh this chapter. The poor man needed a break. _

_And yes, Kris's plan all along was to anger Rayquaza into being useful. After all, Latias did describe him as a "bastard-coated bastard with bastard filling"._

_So, I'm going to tell you all right now that I'll probably be wrapping up this story as best as I can within the next eleven chapters. In other words, crap is going down. Tomorrow through Friday, that's basically all I'll be doing: writing and planning and deleting sections before rewriting them. I really would like to finish this before school starts in just under three weeks, but I know that won't happen. *sighs*_

_I wish I could bake all of you who have read/reviewed/favorited/followed this story some cookies. Really, you guys are so cool. Thank you so much for devoting time to this story._

_Once again, please read and review! I really do like all of your thoughts and comments! It's very inspiring at times where I don't feel particularly motivated to write._


	20. Converging Paths

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, a single dad would raise the protagonist in the upcoming X and Y games, because it's always a single mom in every other games (aside from the Hoenn games).

* * *

If Lyra hadn't been so intent on getting to Mt. Pyre, Silver was fairly certain that she would've wanted to stay in Fortree City for hours. Her eyes flitted through the treetop houses with a level of interest akin to Blue Oak spotting a curvy, smoky-eyed brunette, and she marveled at the Pokémon that clambered through the trees and perched on the branches as normally as if they were in any other forest.

Yet, Silver noticed something off with her, even in her blatant state of interest. Her eyes were normally hazel, and a tawny-hinted hazel that looked amber whenever the sunlight got caught in them. But whenever bright sunlight filtered down through the leaves, he caught bright glints of red from behind her aviators. _What the hell is that? _He thought to himself, frowning a little. Not only that, but she wasn't normally the type to wear sunglasses in shady places, and she cringed whenever bright sunlight hit her face. He wouldn't say Lyra was photophobic at the moment, but the light certainly wasn't her friend. Shuppet, who floated around Lyra, constantly babbling at her, took the light better than her human friend did, which Silver found highly unsettling.

It took them less than half an hour to walk all the way across the bridge network of Fortree City, even with Lyra stopping and gawking at various sights. Silver started down the ladder that would take them out of the tree tops. He noticed it was creaked as he put weight on the first rung. "Be careful coming down this thing. It wouldn't do you any good to fall on your head," Silver called up as he slowly clambered down.

"Right-o. This'll be fun," she retorted, her voice holding a dark edge that Silver wasn't used to. _Something is not right with her. _

He set foot on the ground just as Lyra started down the ladder. Lyra wasn't particularly graceful on a normal day, but her movements as she climbed down the ladder seemed particularly drunken and ungainly. This made Silver nervous; the whole ladder was about forty feet tall. If she actually slipped off of a rung and fell, the fall would hurt her. "Will you please be careful, for f***'s sake!" he called. "It's a long fall!"

She responded, "Thanks, Silver. I knew that." Everything went fine until she was about fifteen feet off the ground. Reaching with her foot for a rung, she slid further down the ladder. Her foot never properly connected with the rung; it slid off and startled Lyra. "Crap!" she hissed, clinging to the ladder.

Silver instinctively released his Crobat. "Catch her if she falls," he ordered hurriedly, almost feeling bad about how brusque he sounded to his Pokémon.

Lyra, however, regained her footing and continued down the ladder before leaping off a good seven feet from the ground. She turned to face Silver and Crobat, one eyebrow raised behind her aviators skeptically. "I wasn't actually going to fall, you know," she complained as she reached to rub Crobat between the ears.

"Bat! Cro!" The Crobat recoiled from her and bared his fangs, growling at her as though she was a stranger.

Lyra snatched her hand back, startled. "Crobat! It's me, Lyra!" she yelped.

_What the ever-loving f*** is going on here? _Silver thought, immediately returning Crobat to his Pokeball. He gazed at Lyra, crossing his arms. "Lyra. Are you feeling all right?" he asked, wondering if she was possibly ill. Crobat was something of a "germaphobe", occasionally acting aggressive and frightened with anyone with a contagious illness.

Lyra shoved her aviators up on her nose. "Yeah. I'm fine," she said, but the quality of her voice wasn't particularly convincing. She took Shuppet in her arms and started walking toward the path that led out of Fortree City. The breeze stirred her hair, sending flickers of crimson through it as she entered the sunlight, and she called back, "You coming?"

Massaging his forehead for a nanosecond to ease his rumpled forehead, Silver nodded and trotted after her. In the back of his mind, he wondered if the effects of her Curse, aside from talking to ghosts, weren't entirely in her past yet, and if some other nasty side effect would rear its head by the time the day had run its course.

* * *

"It looks like they just got hit hard by something…something big."

_I'd say by the amount of damage…it might be that bastard Rayquaza._

"Why not one of your Legendaries like Groudon or Kyogre?"  
_I've already told you; they hardly move. I doubt they even know what's going on up here on the surface from their little caves._

"Didn't you say Rayquaza wasn't likely to help?"

_When I asked him politely, he set fire to my tail feathers._

"I'm genuinely sorry to hear that, Latias. After all, I sense you aren't the sort to ask much politely."

_I just wonder who or what motivated that green lard-ass to help out._

Morty and Latias, the latter donning her human form and a scrappy-looking lace dress, sat on a tree-covered knoll half a mile away from Mt. Pyre and the strait it sat in, conversing about the obvious damage they observed. There were fewer Pokémon flying about, and there seemed to be a general sense of chaos. "I wonder if all we really have to do is use brute force to clear out the minions and then take on their leader," Morty muttered to Latias.

She shot him a grin. _I'd love a good battle. It's been a while since I've gotten to just wipe the floor with my opponents._

"What level are you at, anyway?"

_I'm at level 70…I think. My dumbass brother is 72. We have weaker relatives._

Morty glanced over at her, frowning. He asked, "But…can't only one of a Legendary exist at any given time?"

_Who told you that bullshit? Your political conservatives? _She scoffed aloud, and the sound was enough to drag a chuckle out of Morty. _There are some of us who can reproduce and live with our young. My mother and father did. I hear there are at least two Lugia, since yours was not the one who was turned into a Shadow Pokémon, correct?_

Morty nodded, scratching at his neck. "He was in the Whirl Islands during both Shadow Incidents."

_The one that was turned Shadow is his female counterpart. They will produce a biological child at some point, and they will both fade away. That child will be provided a counterpart by Arceus—or something like that. Maybe there are many Lugia. Anyway, some millennia later they will both be tired and world-weary and so on. I believe there are at least two Ho-oh. There is a shit-ton of my family, but we're quite evasive, leading most to believe that only one of me and one of Latios exist. I also have heard that there are various Mew on the planet, but don't quote me on that, _she said. Standing up, she stretched languidly. Morty was astonished by how comfortable and natural she seemed to feel in her human guise; he was tempted to ask why and also whose form she was taking, but he thought that the question seemed inappropriate.

Ho-oh's voice cut through Morty's head from his place in the upper altitudes of the troposphere. _Will you two quit chattering about unimportant things and figure out what happened down there?_

Concentrating intensely, Morty thought back, _We think it was Rayquaza._

_ Is this so?_

A few minutes later, Ho-oh landed behind the trees, beckoning Latias and Morty over with one wing. He gazed at them with intense eyes. _Well? _He demanded, tapping his talons impatiently against the gritty soil.

Latias filled him in with, _I piss off Rayquaza a lot. I know how his Hyper Beam damages things. I see a lot of that over there._

If Morty had explained something to Ho-oh like that, he would've gotten burned to a crisp by him, but he simply nodded when Latias finished explained. Morty felt like he held absolutely no credentials with Ho-oh. The large, fiery Legendary murmured, _We have more allies than the pair of children with a Raikou that Morty has spoken of. I wonder where Rayquaza went?_

"I have no clue—" Morty didn't get to finish his sentence before he heard a combination of a wild holler/possibly the word "Yeehaw!" from somewhere close to Mt. Pyre. Judging by the both enlightened and irritated look on Ho-oh's face, it was something that was definitely worth looking at.

Slowly, he and Latias turned to look at Mt. Pyre. A rather feeble swarm of ghosts converged on a blue and purple streak that crossed the water. Occasional jets of water downed the ghosts, and eventually a single Dusclops stood in this blue streak's way. It fired a massive pulse of water at the Dusclops, dragging an eardrum-rattling scream from it before bounding out of their line of sight—the edge of the cliff and their position on the hill didn't allow for a great view of whatever had just happened.

Morty turned to Ho-oh, frowning. "Was that…Suicune?"

_I believe so. And if I understand it correctly, that is her human companion with her._

Sighing deeply, Morty muttered, "Instead of Lyra, I get her crazy-ass cousin for help."

_She's the one who made the "Yeehaw!" sound? _Latias clarified, grinning.

"…Yes. That is Kris in a nutshell. She is a giant hick."

No more than a minute and a half later, Suicune and Kris appeared at the top of the cliff, looking absolutely exhausted. "Whew! Hey there, guys!" Kris greeted as she hopped off of Suicune's back and scurried behind the trees. Suicune followed her tentatively, eyeing Latias with wariness in her gaze.

Morty waved. "Hi, Kris. Nice of you to join us."

"Yeah, I kinda missed humans, I gotta say! Suicune and I got Rayquaza to come, though, and judging by the looks of all those ghosts, he did a number of then," she said, flopping down next to Latias. She finally gave her a curious look. "Hey. Who are you?"

_I am Latias, _she greeted. _And haven't we met before?_

Kris laughed and smacked Latias playfully in the shoulder as Suicune padded over to Ho-oh and began speaking with her trio master. It had been a long time since they had spoken, and the relief was clear in Ho-oh's eyes at the safety of his third messenger. Morty returned his attention to Kris as she said, "Aw yeah, aren't you the red one that flies around a lot and insults a lot of people?"

_Yes, that's me, _Latias admitted with a trill of laughter.

Morty sighed loudly. "Okay, everyone, the conversation is wonderful and all, but what are we going to do about Mt. Pyre?"

Ho-oh gave him a scathing look. _Impatient, are we not? _With a sigh, he beckoned the group closer to him to discuss a possible plan about how to deal with the beasts at Mt. Pyre.

* * *

Entei could feel it more strongly than he had before today. It was a familiar feeling, one that he only felt in the Johto and most sharply in the Burned Tower. Though the wound on his face seemed to fester as Giratina and a small number of his beasts worked on some strange device in the background.

He felt Raikou and Suicune close by, and it was this presence that warmed him more than his repressed flames did. It was enough to almost make him forget about Giratina sentencing Mellow to her grim fate. Almost allowing himself a smile, he ignored the Dusknoir that worried at him nearby, poking at the structure that held him captive and crooning something in the language of ghosts to his companions. _For a group of ruthless outcasts, they certainly spend far more time worrying than they are willing to let on, _Entei decided calmly to himself.

"Oh, marvelous, I think that looks finished," Giratina rumbled, and all of his ghosts chirped and whispered in agreement. The sound of his flesh sliding over the rock greeted Entei next as his grotesque, triangular head popped into his line of sight. "By the way, my friend, would you like me to fill you in on the specifics of my plan?"

Entei gave a noncommittal shrug. "It is your decision." He didn't mention what Rina had taught him about villains over thirty years ago; the more of the plan that they told their victims, the less chance they had of it succeeding. Since Giratina had never seen a movie or witnessed the debacle of a modern-day crime, Entei deigned that it would not be his duty to spoil that tidbit of information for the Legendary that held him captive.

Giratina glanced around, as if to check for prying eyes or sharp ears, and then he whispered, "All of these ghosts and all of these Pokémon I've made to be like ghosts…I'm summoning them here, to the Distortion World." That was not at all what Entei was expecting to hear. He had been convinced that Giratina wanted to commit heinous crimes on Earth or overthrow Arceus with his army of beasts, but…this? This was too…mundane. Giratina chuckled and coiled his long body and tentacles around Entei's holding place. "You weren't expecting that answer, were you? Did you really think I was going to try for something as vapid as 'world domination', do you?" he asked blithely, chuckling.

Entei once again shrugged. "I cannot say that I know what to expect from you. You are absolutely mad."

"Why do you say that? Being lonely and tired of isolation makes me _mad?_" Giratina scoffed. "I want to share my home. I am so tired of being alone, and all you can do is look at me like I'm utterly insane for doing what I'm doing."

Entei felt an odd grin twist his mouth for a moment before he replied, "There were those willing to join you, Giratina, and you could have just accepted their company. But you have stolen countless Pokémon from their homes who never wanted this, and you have turned the resting place of thousands into a site of war and violence. I cannot blame you for wanting company, but turning the entire population of the Hoenn's ghosts and Pokémon that know Ghost-type moves is insanity. It is illogical. Highly illogical."

Giratina sighed. "Well, at least your life energy will make a good beacon to bring all of my followers here tonight."

"What?"

"That device we've created…it draws from the power of a Pokémon's life energy to signal to all of those altered by my curse. Since you are a very powerful Pokémon, I will not have to throw some Dusknoir in there and suck up all of his life energy within two minutes." Entei felt his eyes widen at Giratina's explanation. The Renegade Pokémon laughed and unraveled his wrapped body. "I was never just keeping you here for fun, my friend," Giratina added coolly. Before Entei could object to his plan or attempt to blast him with a Fire-type attack that refused to pass through his throat, Giratina flew away, laughing with an unhinged tone that managed to make Entei fear for his life.

_I am going to die tonight, _he realized. With a low sigh, he gazed at his paws. _I did not even think to say goodbye to Rina before I left, either. _He gazed at the swirling, violet skies above him. If he was going to die, he wished that he would die where the sun warmed his fur and the ground beneath his feet was covered in the fresh grass that he knew.

* * *

"What's your favorite Pokémon, Silver?"

Silver was astonished by Lyra's question as they struggled through the tall grass lining the path leading to Mt. Pyre. "Favorite?" he repeated, his left foot getting snared in the grass.

"Yeah."

"I have six. I can't play favorites."

Lyra scoffed and said, "Species, Silver. What species?"

Silver ignored her unusual level of tetchiness and thought for a moment about what Pokémon was possibly his favorite. After a moment's deliberation, he said, "I'm going to be really honest with you and say Totodile."

The answer must have surprised Lyra. She tripped over the grass snared around her legs, almost falling over completely. Shuppet, who was snuggled in her arms once more, chattered angrily about nearly getting squished. Muttering under her breath, Lyra regained her balance and then inquired, "Totodile? Isn't that a little cutesy for you?"

"I was a complete asshole to my Feraligatr when he was a Totodile, and he still had the biggest heart and funniest sense of humor I've ever come across in a Pokémon," Silver admitted with a nervous laugh.

Lyra studied him from out of the corner of her aviators. "I guess that wasn't what I expected to hear from you," she said.

He shot her a depraved smile and retorted, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"A man of mystery, are we?"

"Yes. International man of mystery right now, I'd say."

"Being in the Hoenn as a Johtonese person doesn't make you an international man of mystery."

"Correction: I was born in the Kanto."

"Same difference! Steven Stone didn't even know they were different regions!"

"Isn't he the one who's lithosexual?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"He loves rocks, Lyra. Learn your word roots, woman!"

"How would that ever ruin his credibility?"

The two argued playfully as they shuffled through the long grass. Once they emerged, they froze no more than six feet out of the patch of grass. Sprawled limply in the path was a dark-furred Pokémon with a serrated blade on its head. Though the Pokémon appeared to be breathing, its chest hardly rose and the position it was laying in seemed unnatural. Lyra handed Shuppet to Silver—earning sounds of protest from both—and padded over to the Pokémon. Slowly, she crouched beside its tattered black form. "Hello there. Are you all right?" she whispered to the Pokémon.

Silver watched as the Pokémon's breathing became deeper and slower. The Pokémon stirred, and Lyra and Shuppet both noticeably flinched. Lyra contorted to reach one of her back pockets, where the Destiny Knots were located.

The Pokémon suddenly leapt bolt upright, taking on a defensive stance. Lyra didn't seem surprised by the Pokémon's action, and she gently said, "You're a beast, aren't you?" Her arms remained behind her back, hiding the Destiny Knot in her grasp.  
Growling, the Pokémon advanced on Lyra, stiff-legged. Shuppet ripped herself from Lyra's arms and flew between Lyra and the Pokémon, squalling angrily in the language Silver had no understanding of. Curious and afraid for Lyra, Silver released his Feraligatr as a defense for Lyra, and then he released his Alakazam, essentially a supercomputer in the flesh, to translate the interactions between Lyra, Shuppet, and the dark-looking Pokémon. "Alakazam, what's going on?" he asked quietly.

_I shall translate for you, _the mustachioed Pokémon said graciously. Silver expected him to translate word-for-word, but he felt an odd tug in his mind and suddenly every word that Shuppet and the dark-looking Pokémon said became clear.

"…supposed to be dead; get out of my way!" the mysterious Pokémon said. It was clearly female; her voice reminded him of the seductive women in old film noir movies, filled with something raw and foul like whiskey and ten years of cigarette smoke.

Lyra raised her hands up slowly. "I will, but can I please heal you first?"

The Pokémon shook her head furiously, teeth gritted. Shuppet interjected, "I don't know what went wrong between you and Giratina, Mellow, but we're here to stop him! Let us help you and the others!"

That seemed to throw the Pokémon—Mellow, her name seemed to be—off. She padded slowly up to Shuppet, examining her. "You were once a member of Giratina's army, weren't you?" she asked.

"Yes. But Lyra cured me, and I feel great!" Shuppet declared. Her voice was softer and sweeter than Mellow's; Silver couldn't help but think of Lyra in her early days as a Pokémon Trainer.

Mellow padded up to Lyra. Silver hissed, "Feraligatr, get a Hydro Cannon ready in case she's up to no good." Nodding brusquely, Feraligatr's maw filled with water, ready to blast Mellow with it.

However, she merely tipped her head to the side and sniffed Lyra. "But, Shuppet, have you noticed she herself hasn't been cured yet?" She drew her head back, but in the process, her blade nicked Lyra's exposed collarbone. Lyra yelped, clapping her hand to the wound, and Mellow started to apologize, but Feraligatr, not understanding the situation, fired the Hydro Cannon at Mellow.

"Feraligatr, no!" Silver ordered, but it was too late by that point. Mellow was blasted back a good fifteen feet, and her fur sizzled and crackled from the contact with the water. She snarled and hopped back onto her feet. Rushing at Feraligatr, she lowered her blade to slice him. In response, Feraligatr charged forward on all fours, his fangs glittering with ice.

Silver prepared to ask Alakazam to immobilize both of them with his psychic power, but suddenly Shuppet threw herself with all the force she had at Feraligatr while Lyra tackled Mellow from the side, pinning her to the ground. "Stop it! All of you!" Lyra roared. Silver charged over to Shuppet, helping her hold Feraligatr away from Mellow as Lyra held her down with the weight of her body. "This is ridiculous! It was an accident!" she snarled, and Silver couldn't remember the last time her voice was filled with such rage.

He murmured, "Lyra, it's okay. Feraligatr isn't gnashing his teeth anymore. Mellow isn't fighting, either." He took his weight off of Feraligatr and slowly stood.

Lyra whirled on him, standing up. Behind her glasses, there was a steady crimson glow. _Mellow said she wasn't cured. Is she…becoming a human version of one of those beasts? _Silver thought with a sense of horror, his stomach flipping at the very thought. She released mellow and suddenly held her stomach, a grimace contorting her features. Red flickered behind her aviators like a bad omen. "Silver…I…don't feel well…at all…" she managed to say.

He let all of his reservations go and moved toward her. "Lyra, sit down," he murmured. "If you don't feel good, you should definitely sit down."

She shook her head, shaking profusely. Shuppet and Feraligatr hurried over. "Rest against me, Lyra," Feraligatr said, making Silver realize that Alakazam was translating anything said by the Pokémon present. "Please. You don't feel well."

Silver relayed his Lyra and settled his hands gently on her shoulders. "Please," he said. "I don't say please often. Just do this for me, Lyra."

The red burned full-blast behind her aviators. She shoved him away and let loose an angry roar, like a Pokémon that had been wounded grievously in an unfair fight. Without any reserve, she balled her hand into a tight, perfect fist and swung at Silver.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "I told myself I'd never do a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter, but I guess I lied to myself by writing this fic! And how many of my readers have guessed that Lyra still had something wrong with her even before this chapter?"__ With that being said, wow, I whipped this chapter out really quickly. I just sat down yesterday at around 10 am, started writing, and here I am, a little over 24 hours later, with a brand new chapter! Woot woot!  
_

_So anyway, this is the twentieth chapter of the fic! Isn't that crazy? I'm considering this the home stretch of the story, the things that happen in the next ten chapters. If I really buckle down, I might be able to finish this by the end of the summer, but now that I think about that, I have drum major duties coming up in the oncoming weeks and then SCHOOL STARTS. D: Either way...I'm thinking only ten more chapters of this fic..._

_I figure this'll be a good spot to say this, but after I'm finished with this fic, I probably won't be writing fanfiction for a while. As I've probably said a few too many times already, once school starts, I'll be really busy, and if I have any free time at all, I want to work on the two original stories I've put on hold because of It's Been A While. This has been a massive undertaking as well for my first published fic._

_So...anyway...a few things about the story since I've just ranted about myself and my life._

_If anyone notices the blatant Austin Powers reference in this chapter, I will give you an internet high five._

_I received a few PMs last chapter about the "spooning leads to forking comment", and I'm going to say right now that Mattie's cousin's advice is really my cousin's own advice about spooning. Except I imagine Mattie's cousin to be a lusty female and my cousin is a really dork-tastic male, so, hardy-harr-harr._

_Thanks, as always, to my readers/reviewers/favoriters/followers! You're great people! _

_Please review! It means a lot to me to see what you guys think of my chapters!_


	21. A Moment

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there would be an anime based off the events of HGSS with an awkward, implied romance between Lyra and Silver. Because you know we all want that.

* * *

Silver grabbed Lyra's wrist just before her fist made contact with his jaw. She was unbelievably strong in this state, the lenses of her sunglasses boiling bloody. Voice gruff with exertion as Lyra threw another punch at him that he had to snag from the air, Silver growled, "Lyra, it's me, Silver. Tell whatever thing is controlling your brain to shut the f*** down." She shook her head fiercely; there was no recognition in the way she brought her knee up, clipping him hard between the legs in what was best known as a "cheap shot" or a "nut shot". Silver winced but did his best to keep standing. Using the moment of weakness, Lyra tore her wrists free of his grip and rammed him hard with her shoulder, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Once he fell, she started toward Mt. Pyre. "You guys! Stop her!" Silver ordered weakly, feeling both winded and properly assaulted by the beast that had just taken over Lyra's body.

Alakazam immediately teleported, but Mellow shook her head profusely. "I was the last straw. It wouldn't be wise for me to help her," she said, and slowly her words made less sense in his head as Alakazam moved further away. "I caused her…to act…in such a…sol, Absol, way that…Absol, ab, sol ab," Mellow noticed the confusion Silver's eyes as he struggled to his feet.

Silver glared at her. In his blinding worry and anger, he snarled, "I'm holding you responsible for all of this if I can't cure her." Suddenly, Alakazam reappeared with a struggling Lyra in his psychic grip.

_I've brought her back, _Alakazam stated simply.

Silver hesitantly drew closer to Lyra. If she was a beast now, it would take the Destiny Knot and the Mental Herb to cure her from it—hopefully, the combination provided to them by Wally worked the same on humans as it did with Pokémon. "Hold her as still as you can. I need to get some things out of her backpack."

Alakazam nodded. _I will do my best for you. _Lyra's limbs snapped out in a spread-eagled position, effectively cutting off her every movement. Her head thrashed violently as Silver crossed behind her and snatched a length of a Destiny Knot and a Mental Herb from her backpack. He began to zip the pocket closed when Alakazam's power rebounded fiercely, slamming the former user with his own power, making him collapse. Silver glanced over at him with concern, but he had already started to sit up, massaging his noggin with a rather murderous look on his face. Meanwhile, Lyra had fallen onto her back and fallen hard at that. Silver noticed the opportunity and took it. He threw himself on top of her, straddling her hips to immobilize her legs and pinning her arms with his own. "Mellow, Feraligatr, Shuppet. Help me out here!" he roared as Lyra attempted to bite his wrist.

Feraligatr responded the fastest. He planted his claws on Lyra's forearms, allowing Silver usage of his hands. Shuppet flung her tiny body on top of Lyra's legs as if her minimal weight could immobilize her human friend. Standing warily at a distance, Mellow watched as Silver took the tangled Destiny Knot and unraveled a long portion of it. The Mental Herb hung from Silver's teeth as he bit down on the stem of the leaf in concentration. Lyra thrashed harder, trying to break free, but between Silver's weight on her hips and the brute force of Feraligatr's claws on her arms, she wasn't able to break loose.

Silver finally untangled a long enough portion of the Destiny Knot to begin his work. "Feraligatr, hold her forearms together. I'm going to tie her wrists with this Destiny Knot," he mumbled around the Mental Herb, jiggling the thick red string in his arms. "It'll keep her from struggling, and it's also part of the cure," he said, using words to comfort himself more than any other living thing around him.

Feraligatr nodded and coaxed her arms up with difficulty. Though she didn't seem to be able to speak of a lick of human language in this state, Lyra certainly held some vehemence in her voice. _Swearing without swearwords, _Silver thought grimly as Feraligatr finished raising her arms so that his Trainer could tie them without threat of getting bitten or headbutted by his currently manic rival.

He started looping the Destiny Knot around her wrists. Though Feraligatr held the girl mostly still, she twitched and shuddered enough to make Silver's job difficult. "Shuppet, take her sunglasses off. The sunlight might stun her for a few seconds," he ordered out of the side of the mouth. The Mental Herb between his teeth made prolonged discussion quite difficult.

Shuppet flew off her legs and took the glasses off of Lyra's face by biting down on the nosepiece with her mouth and pulling. Silver's theory proved correct; the moment the sun hit her face, Lyra's eyes shut tightly, and she stopped thrashing around for the time being. Silver took this as the chance to finish looping the Destiny Knot around her wrist. Taking the large amount of extra string, he knotted it tightly and then wrapped an end around his own wrist.

With the final loop around Silver's wrist, Lyra's struggling ceased. Feraligatr let her forearms go; he knew how the rest of this was going to go down. Eyes half-hooded, Lyra looked up at Silver with horrible eyes that were not like her incredibly beautiful and warm hazel eyes. She breathed, "Something smells really good." Her eyes focused on the Mental Herb hanging between his teeth. She lifted her head and bit it free of his mouth, her mouth so close to his that Silver couldn't help but grow warmer. Chewing the herb slowly, Lyra relaxed, settling back down on the ground again, wrapped tightly in Silver's Destiny Knot. When she swallowed the herb, she stiffened and shook as the effects of her Curse were eradicated completely. Her skin tone warmed to take on the tan she would've normally started to develop by now, and the dark circles under her eyes lightened up until they were but pale lavender shadows.

Lyra's breathing deepened. She relaxed once more; her eyes opened slowly, revealing the honey-gold of her irises without a trace of red in the sun. "Silver?" she asked quietly in a voice devoid of the sardonic tones it had taken on lately, and it was enough for him. Silver grinned at the sight of Lyra laying there beneath him with her normal eyes and a confused, unaggressive expression. His self-control slipped easily from his mind, letting him react as he'd always wanted to at the sight of the girl he was in love with. He didn't care that the Pokémon were there to see him pull her into his arms and collapse onto the ground with Lyra lying on top of him. His arms wrapped tightly around her, Silver couldn't help but laugh in relief.

Lyra blushed profusely at this close contact. "Silver, are you all right?" she asked, her wrists still bound and propped against his chest uncertainly.

Silver sat up and tugged her arms around his neck. He cupped her face, and, without giving it a lot of forethought, kissed her hard.

Lyra seemed surprised by it; regardless, it didn't take her long to sink into it, resting against his chest. Her knees tightened around his hips as he pulled her even closer to him by the small of her back. He angled his head, grinding his lips against hers; he figured that with her massive lack of experience and his inability to initiate something like this for so long, it was safest to keep it a closed mouth kiss. She groaned quietly as he moved his lips from hers and pressed them against her forehead instead, holding her closely. Her skin was soft and stung with salt. "That wasn't your first kiss, was it?" she muttered, her voice satisfyingly shaky.

"Whitney and Janine both stole a few from me," he answered against her forehead, albeit reluctantly. Whitney thought that following him around and sneaking kisses to his lips would cheer up Silver after the Lavender Town incident a few years back, but it had really only made him avoid her. Janine, on the other hand, truly stole kisses. She'd planted traps in her Gym for him whenever he came to ask about Lyra and occasionally decided that she wanted to take a memento from her victim. Not that any of that really mattered—he'd never enjoyed them. Sure, he'd learned what and what not to do by the antics of those two Gym Leaders, but what did it really matter now? What if it made Lyra angry? Lyra and Janine were good friends, after all, and Whitney was an acquaintance of hers. _What if she thinks I'm a man-wh***? _He thought, aghast.

To his surprise, she sighed and demanded, "Do it again."

Silver felt a devilish grin slide onto his face. He pulled her tightly against him once more as he fiercely kissed her. Her heart slammed wildly against her chest, hard enough for Silver to feel it and allow himself a surge of pride: yes, he had never beat Lyra in a battle, but now he had her totally enraptured and like putty in his arms. He figured that was far better than ever beating her in a battle, anyway. Her body thrummed under his touch, and he decided to let himself try something new and different. He left her lips and kissed down to her neck, pressing his lips just under the hinge of her jaw and trailing them down further. She shuddered and groaned, "Oh yes."

Silver grinned against her throat. He planted another kiss against her lips, wanting nothing more than to deepen it—

_My, my. I'm gone for an hour and I come back to this? _Lyra squeaked in shock as Raikou, seemingly out of nowhere, padded up to the interlocked pair. He sniffed at Lyra's bound wrists; it suddenly occurred to Silver that this had to look terrible out of context. With a clandestine glance to Silver, Raikou muttered, _I have to say, I'm glad I have._

Lyra's face, currently a color that was on par with Silver's hair, was filled with confusion. "Why?" she asked. Silver noticed the cut near her collarbone had already stopped bleeding, but a number of droplets clung desperately to her skin. He wiped them off with his thumb, earning another squeak from Lyra.  
_I've always liked the thought of you two together. Now, if you're done…showing affection, you should know that I can sense Suicune, Entei, and Ho-oh, _Raikou said. Frowning a little, he added, _Suicune and Ho-oh are safe and within a very close proximity to us, but I can only sense Entei's presence. It's like sensing him…through a very thick, dark fabric._

Silver lifted Lyra's arms off of his neck and quickly freed her wrists from the Destiny Knot as she asked Raikou, "That's not good. Did you know that I was slowly turning into a human version of a beast, by the way?"

_Oh, so the Destiny Knot around your wrists was not something darkly romantic that Silver talked you into?_

"Do I really look like that much of a pervert to you?" Silver demanded as Raikou chuffed at him.

Shuppet flew over to Lyra, slowly followed by Mellow, Feraligatr and a wary Alakazam. "I can still understand you. Kuni was talking about that like it was pretty normal for a person cured of a Curse, actually…oh! Well Kuni is a friend of mine…" Lyra explained to Shuppet. Silver tuned it out and watched Mellow.

Raikou noticed Mellow as well. He asked, _Who is the Absol? What's wrong with her coloration?  
_

"You mean they don't usually have black fur?"

_No. White fur, dark face, _Raikou explained. The two didn't speak, letting the conversation between Shuppet and Lyra fill their ears. Silver watched Lyra, and he felt a smile twitch on his lips. She glanced his way, and she twisted away quickly so that he couldn't see her face, but he still caught the bashful, breathless smile that lit up her face.

Silver fetched his Pokeballs and returned Feraligatr and Alakazam. It was time to move on to Mt. Pyre. "Raikou, lead us to Ho-oh and Suicune. You sense they're all right, so let's go find them."

"But what about Mt. Pyre?" Lyra asked. Mellow seemed to nod.

"I'm pretty sure they have the same thing in mind if they're all here," Silver responded, his tone far warmer than it had ever been in his life. He wondered just how drunk he was on his rival at the moment.

Lyra nodded, scratching at her neck thoughtfully. She turned to Mellow. "Do you want to help out?" she questioned her quietly. "We could always use another ally."

Mellow's eyes widened, and so did Silver's. He wanted to protest; she was a beast! A cured beast would have been fit to help, but Mellow didn't qualify in that category. After all, she seemed repulsed by the idea of a cure for her beastly condition as well! Before Silver could tell her to drop the idea, Lyra added, "Even when you're not cured, you have far more self-control than any regular Pokémon has. And…you're a woman scorned, right?"

_Who actually asks someone that? _Raikou asked Silver as Mellow slowly began to nod, her eyes narrowing.

Silver gestured to Lyra as she began to nod with Mellow as encouragement. Not without affection, he said, "Obviously, Lyra does."

Moments later, Lyra and Shuppet embraced Mellow, who seemed shocked at the attention from the human and the overeager little ghost. "I'm so happy you're going to help us out!" Turning to Raikou and Silver, Lyra declared, "Let's get going! Glaceon is around here somewhere! And we've got a region to help out!" With Mellow following her tentatively and Shuppet fluttering around both of them, the flannel-clad Trainer began to storm off.

Raikou sighed loudly. _Lyra Soul. Wrong way, young lady. How about I take the lead now? _He asked.

Flushed a faint pink, Lyra nodded. "Okay."

As Raikou began to lead them toward wherever Suicune and Ho-oh were, Silver sidled up to Lyra. He whispered, "You're feeling better."

She smiled and nodded slowly. Her hand slipped into his, shocking him, and Lyra murmured, "I owe you a lot right now, you know. You'll have to come to collect on that someday."

_Holy—! _Silver blushed violently. What the hell was she _implying? _Shuppet and Mellow shot him sideways glances as he sputtered for a response and found none.

Raikou furtively gazed over his shoulder at him. In what seemed to be a private manner, he blithely said, _Someone is a lucky boy._

The echoes of Silver sputtering awkwardly bounced through the hills and down into the strait in which Mt. Pyre rose out of, confusing all who had no idea of what had a certain redheaded Trainer had achieved in a moment of unguarded, unbridled affection for the girl he'd been in love with for four years.

* * *

"So…there's Ho-oh, Latias, Suicune, Kris…and me."

"Don't forget Suicune and me firing up Rayquaza! Even though we don't really know where he is…but he'll be back soon, I betcha my entire ponytail."

"That's all of six of us against…well, okay, are we officially saying that Giratina is the enemy now?"

_When haven't we been, you idiot?_

"Okay, jeez, sorry, Latias."

"You know, it's more like nine. I have Meganium, Ampharos, and Fearow on me."

Morty sighed and rocked back onto his heels. This idea session hadn't just gotten off on the wrong foot; it had taken off with only one engine in full function and broken ailerons. Ho-oh had suggested razing all of Mt. Pyre and then soaring straight up in the strange, shimmery distortion. With an indignant trill of rage Latias shot down the idea. After all, Mt. Pyre was a resting place, even if it was being used for rather nefarious purposes at the moment. From there, the ideas went consistently downhill. The main issue was a lack of numbers—at best, they had nine. Suicune said that she sensed Raikou—who Silver and Lyra were supposedly with nearby—but that would only include another three, bringing their number up to twelve. Though the Legendaries were immensely power, it took more than power. Their resources would be stressed and spread out to a very wide locus. Sighing ruefully, he rested his back heavily against the tree behind him. "We really do need more people, I think," Morty said almost to himself.

_Raikou, Lyra, and Silver are very close by and growing closer yet, I'll remind you, _Suicune grumbled as she tossed her mane primly over her shoulders once more.

"So that's three…plus Lyra's six and Silver's five, since his Gengar is susceptible to whatever those ghosts are doing. So that's fourteen plus nine…twenty-three?" Morty laughed at his mental math. "You can tell I spent more time battling than in formal education."

Latias, still in human form and sitting beside Kris and Suicune, kneaded her forehead. _And yet the fate of the Pokémon in this region rests in your hands, _Latias complained.

Morty glared across the clearing they sat in as Latias ranted on. Her bad attitude was revolting when he didn't feel the stress of every individual in the region hanging over his head. It was then that he noticed glowing red eyes and a ruff of dark fur glaring at him from in between trees. His heart lifted into his throat, thundering painfully in his vocal chords. Leaping to his feet, he roared, "Beast!"

Every Pokémon nearby immediately went into an attack stance. _Don't come any closer! _Latias snapped. _We'll tear you to pieces!_

Suddenly, the beast—an Absol, Morty realized—was joined by a very familiar face framed by messily tied-back chestnut hair. Lyra stood next to this Absol with the gray ghost Shuppet hanging over her shoulder; her stance held comfortable easygoingness. "Oh. Wow. There are a _lot _of Legendaries in this glade, aren't there, Mellow?" she asked the beast, of all creatures, in a bit of a drawl, jamming her hands in the pockets of her jean shorts.

"Lyra! We're right across from Mt. Pyre! Get in there!" Lyra and the beast, shortly followed by the Shuppet, rushed into the trees, followed quickly by Raikou and Silver.

Latias glared at the newcomers. _Who are these people? Why is Raikou with them? Hell, why is the beast with them? _

Lyra held up her hands reproachfully. "Um, hi there. I'm Lyra, Kris's cousin. The cute redheaded one is Silver…" Morty turned his attention to Silver, who blushed vibrantly at Lyra's description of him. "…and you all obviously know Raikou; he's travelling with me because his taste in humans is crappy. And…the beast is Mellow. She told me that Giratina ordered her to kill Rayquaza or else he'd let Rayquaza kill her, but she's here and alive and ready to get him back for ordering her to do something so reckless."

Kris struggled to her feet and ran over to her cousin, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Lyra! I missed you!" she cried. "What happened to you? Why do you got all these extras with you?"

She sighed, and she began to tell the story of what had happened to her over the past days.

* * *

Latias listened to the tale of this Lyra girl. She was an interesting girl, taking the best qualities of Kris and mellowing them out. Plus, she seemed less rash and quieter in general. Rubbing at her right thumbnail, Latias listened with Marvel as she described getting Cursed by ghosts, losing her Glaceon, and travelling across the sea on the back of a Lugia to get her back. _She really cares about her Pokémon to do that, _Latias decided for herself, watching Lyra describe the finer points of her tale, including her discovery that she'd been slowly turning into a human version of the beasts.

"…and then Silver managed to do the cure."

Latias's head snapped up. _Cure?_

Silver, the redhead who seemed like he probably frowned a lot, reached into Lyra's backpack and yanked a tangled red ball of yarn and rumpled leaves from the front pocket. "Destiny Knot and a Mental Herb," he explained. "That's the cure. We discovered it when Shuppet got tangled up in a Destiny Knot and then suddenly ate a leaf off of the Mental Herb."

Lyra sighed. "Didn't I say that Shuppet used to be a beast already?"

_How does it work? _Latias asked, leaning forward. _What makes it a cure?_

"I have a theory," Lyra said, glancing at Silver, who looked like he was about to tell Latias off. She continued, "So…Destiny Knot is an item that forces your opponent to reciprocate feelings of love when they use Attract on you, and the Mental Herb cures conditions like infatuation and confusion. Love and hate are very passionate emotions, and the beasts feel hate very strongly. When a person who cares about their wellbeing uses the Destiny Knot on them, they suddenly realize that they're being cared about, and so they should care about the other person. The Mental Herb suddenly smells really good in that state, because you understand that it'll clear your mind and stop you from acting irrationally."

Latias pondered that for a moment. _So…only someone with good intentions for the beast would be able to cure them, then, right?_

"Exactly."

Latias turned her head to watch the Absol called Mellow. In the language of Pokémon, she asked, "Why haven't you allowed her to cure you?"

"I am miserable no matter what form I'm in," she answered, dipping her head. Misery flashed in her luminous eyes as she added, "At least in this form, I can talk to ghosts and fly."

"Don't you feel intense hatred? Wouldn't you want to be free of that?"

Mellow chuffed bitterly at the suggestion. She retorted, "I felt intense hatred before all of this began. I might as well use it to my advantage in the meantime."

Morty cut into the conversation. "Okay, well, that's great about the cure, Lyra, but I doubt we have enough to cure everyone. Plus, you'd get yourself killed trying to cure some Pokémon with poisonous fangs or something."

Mellow scowled at Morty. "Relay to him that he should not be so condescending toward the girl. She is kinder and braver than he will ever be."

Latias grinned devilishly. "You and I might be friends yet." Repeating Mellow's words to Morty, both Pokémon earned a dark scowl from the Gym Leader.

Ho-oh clapped his wing to his forehead in an obvious sign of irritation and flapped his wings to get everyone's attention. He growled, _Quit arguing! We need to come up with a plan of action since we are all here and ready to take down Giratina! Please put aside your petty arguments and let us decide how we are going to vanquish this threat!_

A minute later, everyone had settled down into something of a loose circle. Latias noticed that Lyra's group never deviated far from her; there was a sort of gravity to her that seemed to draw everyone and anything in. The redheaded one, Silver, asked, "So…I feel like you guys had some ideas, but you all were arguing too much to settle on one?"

Kris laughed. "You have no idea. Ho-oh wanted to set fire to the mountain to scare the rest of the beasts away."

"That's insane!" Lyra blurted, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. Ho-oh gave her a dirty look as she added, "I mean, it's a really big important mountain around here and all."

Latias nodded. _My thoughts exactly._

Lyra leaned into Raikou, scratching at his chest fur thoughtfully for a few moments as she said, "I wonder if the cure would work on Giratina. I mean, he's the source. Maybe if we cure the source, everyone else will be cured, too."

"He isn't technically a beast," Silver retorted. There was restraint in his voice; clearly he didn't want to be as condescending as Morty or as sharp as Ho-oh when it came to this girl.

She shrugged. "I think it'd be worth a shot. I mean, we certainly have enough people and Pokémon to distract the beasts—they really don't take well to water, so all you'd have to do is get a couple of Water-type Pokémon using those attacks to frighten them away for a while—and then we go get Giratina…where is he, by the way?"

Suicune tipped her nose upward. Latias watched Lyra's eyes widen as she noticed the strange distortion in the sky. "What is that?"

"It's the way into the Distortion World, the space that Giratina inhabits," Morty explained in a bored voice.

Lyra rolled her eyes at his reaction and continued, "Anyway, so all we'd need to do is get a distraction going down in here, send some of us up into the Distortion World and try my theory."

"If it doesn't work, we could get killed. Giratina wasn't afraid of letting me die," Mellow said, and Latias relayed that to Lyra and the others.

Gazing at Mellow with a solemn expression, Lyra quietly added, "I don't think anyone should have to die in this fight, whether it's on our side or theirs. Most of the beasts didn't choose to become what they are, and I don't think they should suffer for it. And some who did choose this path regret it and want to change their ways." The comment was clearly directed at Mellow, who ducked her head and nodded in agreement.

_That is very noble of you, but how often are wars won without casualties? _Ho-oh asked haughtily.

Latias scratched at the bridge of her nose. _Ho-oh, she was here originally to rescue her Pokémon. I don't think she's willing to harm everyone else just for one Pokémon._

"I want to stop Giratina, and yes, it's because I want Glaceon safe and sound," Lyra growled, shutting up the murmur that was rising through the small group. "But so many of those Pokémon didn't want to be part of this. I want to get them out safely. There's no need for them to meet an unfortunate end because of a girl who wants her Glaceon back and because of a crazy ghost dragon."

Latias grinned. There was such a shortage of those who wanted nonviolent solutions in this strange conflict. Loudly, she declared, _I'm willing to figure out a plan based around this idea of the cure. _Lyra shot her a surprised look, but she nodded gratefully Raikou and Suicune exchanged looks and nodded, which was quickly followed by Morty rolling his eyes and muttering, "Pacifists, all of you." Slowly, the entire circle, aside from Ho-oh, seemed to have cast their chips on Lyra's idea.

The guardian of the sky scoffed when they all looked at him. _I have been around long enough to know that peacefully taking care of Giratina will not work in the end. There are not enough Destiny Knots and Mental Herbs in the world to take care of this problem peacefully. I will help you, but I will not be a shoulder to cry on when your plan does not work. Tell me when you have decided on a plan. _Ho-oh awkwardly waddled away—the guardian of the sky was not meant to walk on land with his underdeveloped legs. Latias could only catch glimpses of his red feathers through the dense foliage Ho-oh had just plowed through.

Morty glanced around. "Well. Let's get planning?"

Lyra exchanged a look with Silver. Latias observed something pass between them as the redheaded scooted closer to the girl. She shot him a shy smile as she picked up a twig in the fallen leaves nearby and said, "Okay, well, let's figure out what we've got going for us here…"

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "Mother of God! I actually did it! I actually made Silver initiate the kiss when originally Lyra was going to do it! But oh my sweet lordy Moses the rest of this chapter just did not flow for me!" Anyway, I hope you all are happy with Silver's moment of giddy happiness in this chapter. I know people say not to put kisses at the beginning of a chapter, but the rabid shipper in me could not contain myself. It had to be done._

_So, anyway, I wrote the first half of this chapter at one in the morning after getting home from a day trip. I was actually going to incorporate the kiss as part of chapter twenty, but then I decided against that. The rest of this has been a product of half an hour spurts of writing. I don't know what it was, but this chapter was just hard to write. Ugh._

_And yes, Silver is very worried about looking like a "man-wh***" to Lyra, although I don't believe in such terms. Silver isn't on a plane of thought quite that high yet..._

_A friend of mine read this chapter for me last night and pretty much called the little ragtag team at the end "the Poke-vengers" and I kind of wanted to punch her, but in a friendly way. They're just concerned citizens rising up to take care of a region that can't take care of itself very well._

_I don't have a lot to write in the Author's Note for once, hahaha._

_Thanks to my readers/favoriters/followers/reviewers, as always. I love you guys. You're helping me through the chapters I have issues writing so that I may write the chapters that speak loudly to my soul...  
_

_Review/favorite/follow this story! I've been working so hard since February, you guys. Even if I've only been publishing it for a little over a month now, it's still great to see support for this whopper of a story!_


	22. Fired Up

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters. But if I did, Ash Ketchum's age in the new arc of the anime would probably be around 14 or 15. Because he definitely looks 14 to me in the new stills and GIFs.

* * *

Rayquaza spiraled high in the mesosphere, high above every other living being on the planet. Up here, the ground seemed like a hazy dream, sprawling green with foliage and scarred blue with the waters below. The frigid air that came with the mesosphere didn't penetrate his tough, scaly hide, nor did it cool the flames a dragon usually carried within his belly as a brutal weapon, a defense mechanism, and as a survival tactic. No other living thing—aside from that dratted alien Deoxys, maybe—could fly as high as Rayquaza. Hence, he needed as much help as he could get from his body when he needed to be alone like this.

As one of the oldest Pokémon in existence, Rayquaza knew the planet and its denizens and had watched them grow from high in the sky for…oh, what was it? Millennia? Eons? Epochs? He had been around long enough to watch the mountains rise after Groudon's tumultuous birth and the oceans slam violently against the newly-created shores when Kyogre shuddered to life. He had been around long enough to watch Mew, a once-common Pokémon, populate the Earth. He had been around long enough to watch humans rise up from seemingly nothing at all and eventually ally themselves with Pokémon.

Nothing should have surprised Rayquaza anymore. Old as dust and cynical as a love-starved detective in a bad buddy cop movie, he rarely felt shock over the goings-on of people or Pokémon anymore. Yet, today, battling that Absol had startled him greatly. It was like meeting Giratina when he was young and idealistic, not understanding the gravity of the future that was in store for him. Unlike the Renegade Pokémon, who was a little crooked even at the beginning, there was a clarity in Absol's eyes when she first began battling him. The Dark-type with a cool expression was certain that she belonged with Giratina's pack until his ultimatum. And right there, a certain sort of rationality dulled her eyes. She was the type to do the right thing, even if led astray, and that seemed to be the story of her life: doing the right thing when not doing the right thing would have given her some happiness.

Rayquaza did not have a single qualm about killing her until he saw that look in her eye. Though Giratina was better known for his senseless acts of violence, Rayquaza had a reputation when it came to dealing with his enemies. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had little tolerance for the lives of wrongdoers. Many were dead because of him. After centuries of moral debates, Rayquaza had decided that the death of those who harmed his region and the Pokémon that lived in Sky Pillar under his protection were more than justified. But, in that moment in which Absol refused to kill him because she believed it to be wrong, he could not kill her. She saw him as more important (which was obviously true. He kept Kyogre and Groudon in line, after all), and for whatever reason that inspired Rayquaza to merely render her unconscious with a blow of his tail and drop her on the path just northwest of Mt. Pyre. Hopefully, she would discover the right path. That way, Rayquaza could one day encounter her and call her a friend instead of being obligated to tear her to pieces.

Craning his neck, Rayquaza gazed into the murky blue sky. Dimly twinkling stars penetrated the muddy color here and there—here the atmosphere was incredibly thin. He used to fly almost into space, where he would actually begin to feel the effects of the bitter cold and the clear lack of oxygen, to see a sky like this. Gazing back down on the Earth below him, he figured it was time to return below. Though far-detached from the thoughts of those who so rudely inspired him to cause some damage at Mt. Pyre, Rayquaza sensed that the Suicune and the horrid girl who coerced him into doing such a thing were plotting below, and with others as well. They would need his firepower, certainly. When was his firepower ever unneeded? Tipping his head forward, he began to descend toward the ground, letting his body become rigid and straight as he descended from the sky and back toward the ground that wanted to hold him captive once more.

* * *

_They are so close. Raikou and Suicune. So very close. I need them to be closer, and closer very quickly at that. I do not know that I have long._

Giratina's tentacles tore at Entei's restraints. Entei knew that he was not being freed from this strange, dark cesspool by the Pokémon that had ordered for him to be captured by the Dusknoir in the first place. One tentacle wrapped tightly around his throat and another took him around his middle. Snarling, Entei tried to crane his neck around tear at the tentacle. With an unhinged laugh, Giratina slammed him against a nearby rock, scattering bright speckles of light across his vision. "It was a good effort, sweetheart," he said mockingly. Entei couldn't even growl in response as Giratina lifted off the ground, dragging Entei's body with him. "Pray to Arceus that you drop dead before I slowly drain you of your life energies."

"At least your father knows of compassion," Entei garbled, his voice lacking in fight.

Giratina growled deep in his throat. "Don't speak of Arceus as though you know him. He is a foul creature, fouler than me."

"Like father, like son, I suppose."

"Shut _up. _He is the master of the damned trio I'm in, not my father."

As Giratina carried Entei through the startling, contorted landscape of his home, Entei eyed the "device" that his life energy would power. A circle of black, glossy stones with pointed tops stood on a flat plateau not far from the place he'd once been imprisoned. At the center of this circle of stones was a strange, rippling web of a toxic purple energy that pulsated like an intercalated section of cardiac muscle tissue. It was held up by a tall, crooked arch of dark stone. Giratina seemed quite proud of it. "Is it not beautiful? With your life energy, the circle of stones will begin to move, and the grinding of these stones, orchestrated by the web, will summon all of my followers here. I will no longer be alone," he added, and Entei almost felt bad for him for a moment. Giratina had spent millennia trapped alone; no wonder he'd gone…wait. The Renegade Pokémon had lost his sanity long before being trapped in the Distortion World. He'd been imprisoned in this alternate reality in the first place because of his violent crimes against humankind and his fellow Pokémon.

"Why would you not have been happy with just the Dusknoir and that Absol? They chose this fate. Would that not have been good enough? Why are you depleting entire regions of their ghosts and other Pokémon?" Entei asked harshly.

He glanced down at Entei and shook his head, as if the younger Legendary had asked something as simple as, "Why is the grass green?" Giratina circled high above the device to inspect it for a moment before saying, "There is a saying I've become familiar with. 'Go broke or go home'. I want _many _to understand the horror of being trapped in this dark, dark world. I am tired of suffering alone." Descending toward the device, Giratina slowly began to lower Entei toward the web. "Any last words before we begin to steal your energies?"

The corner of Entei's mouth twitched, as if he were about to smirk like naughty child. "I hope that your enemies will spare you no mercy, and that you will be so thoroughly defeated that you will shun the visage of the Earth and all of its denizens for thousands of years."  
Giratina chuckled coldly. Individual hairs on Entei's body touched the web, and Entei noticed with a grimace that they began to gray as though he was becoming an old human male. "Harsh words. But they resound well as your last ones, for now all you might be able to manage are screams of pain." Unceremoniously flicking his tentacles out, Giratina threw Entei into the web. The moment Entei's entire body made contact with the web, the Legendary fell into such intense agony that he couldn't even open his mouth to scream. Invisible lances dug into his spine while intangible hooks tore at every inch of his skin, leaving him raw and weak. His eyes rolled back into his head and he sputtered for breath as the webs turned crimson, as though they leeched his blood as opposed to the energy it took to keep him alive, and he prayed that it would end quickly.

The stones made a hideous grinding noise around him. In some deep, protect figment of his psyche, Entei regretted that it would most likely be the last noise that he heard. _Ho-oh…Raikou…Suicune…Rina…I am sorry, _he thought, his head hanging weakly. _Please forgive me for being used like this someday. _

Through the dim haze of red that covered his eyes, he noticed the shapes of many Pokémon appearing through the portal to the Distortion World. Oddly, he caught the shape of an Eeveelution, one that was very uncommon in the Hoenn and the Kanto, but he didn't think much of it. He couldn't really think much of it because everything inside of him felt as though it was slowly draining away. The stones kept on grinding, and Entei wasn't sure he could keep living.

* * *

"So that makes Suicune, Quagsire, and Feraligatr down in the water, using their Water-type attacks to frighten off the weaker ones that were hurt in Rayquaza's initial attack. Kris, you'll stay down there with them and heal them up if they get any damage. Latias, Xatu, Crobat, and Ho-oh will circle around and take care of any enemies in the air that don't get the message from the water attacks. Morty will stay with Ho-oh since that's who he's been travelling with. Also, Silver and I will temporarily relinquishing control of Xatu and Crobat to you in case a time comes where you'd need to tell them what to do. Should Rayquaza return, he'll fly with you guys. Silver and I will head up into the Distortion World with Raikou. Mellow is coming with us, and Shuppet will help you out, Morty. If anyone comes across a Glaceon, which is a small blue Eeveelution with head ornaments, use the Destiny Knot and Mental Herb I gave all of you. Any questions?"

The mixed group of Pokémon and humans stared in confusion at Lyra's dirt drawing. An impressive combination of circles and squiggles ornamented the dirt, spreading lines here and there pointing in various directions. Silver raised his eyebrows. "Lyra…you didn't need to draw that. Your explanation worked. The diagram is f***ed up."  
Lyra glanced around the circle, noticing the grim collection of nods and snickers from the others. Feeling her face grow hot, she stood up, took her stick and wiped away the plans doodled into the ground. "But…you guys get my plan, right?"  
A chorus of approval came across the group. Lyra sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. It had to be close to three in the afternoon; it was so ridiculously _hot _out. Shucking off her flannel shirt, Lyra tied it around her waist and said, "Well. Then let's do it."  
"What? Right now? Are you mad?" Morty asked sharply.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Morty. They're ghosts. The daytime is not a good time for them; it makes them weak. If we get moving now, we can take advantage of the damage Rayquaza inflicted and take care of our problems quickly," she explained.

"We've just barely come together and we're already going to take them on? I've been thrown around terribly these past few days, Lyra. My shoulder was dislocated. I've almost fallen to my death. Forgive me if I'm a little reluctant to throw myself headlong into a plan we've had for all of ten minutes," Morty growled.

_Do you always complain this much or is today just our lucky day? _Raikou asked, examining his claws coolly.

Morty narrowed his eyes. "I'm glad that we have a plan, Raikou, understand _that _much, please. I just think that everyone needs to rest. Look at Kris," he demanded, a note of desperation in his voice. "Look at how scarred-up and tired she looks."

"Talk for yourself! I'm fine!" Kris snapped, her eyes flashing. "Morty, take a toughening-up pill and get to work, will ya?"

Standing up, Suicune shook fallen foliage free of her mane, shooting a glance over to Lyra. _Tell us when to leave. We will provide the best distraction we can manage. _

Silver looked over at Lyra, an odd mixture of emotion seething in his eyes. He unclipped two Pokeballs from his belt and released Crobat and Feraligatr. Kneeling, he began to explain the situation to the two. Lyra released Xatu and Quagsire and did the same. She kept an eye on Morty as she did; he looked absolutely furious at the lack of weight he held in the group. _Morty, I think you are a lovely person, but you are a very technical person who is better at thinking than doing, _Lyra thought with a sigh. With a team of nearly all ghosts, Morty was almost useless in this situation, and she felt bad about it. It was why she'd suggested he take command over Crobat and Xatu—as a tactician, he would be of some use in the sky. However, his reluctance to get to work quickly made it very difficult for Lyra to think anything positive about him. Xatu and Crobat flew over to Morty. Feraligatr stomped over to Kris, followed by a toddling Quagsire.

Raikou padded over to Lyra. He bumped his head against her shoulder and said, _I am ready whenever you are. _This simple action caused Lyra's heart to leap into her throat and pound wildly. She glanced at Silver, who nodded. Grabbing Raikou's mane, Lyra got onto his back. Silver followed her, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as Raikou got moving.

Lyra glanced over her shoulder at him, feeling warmed at this snug embrace from behind. "Breaking gender roles, are we?"  
"Woman, I don't want to fall off the oversized Pikachu with an 80's 'do."

_I find that to be a very rude description of how I look. A man can't help what sort of hair he has, _Raikou said in a hurt sort of voice. He came to the cliff's edge. _Let's wait for our distractions in the water to get moving._

It took no more than five seconds after Raikou said that for Suicune, with Kris sitting comfortably sidesaddle on her back, to leap straight off to cliff and land serenely on top of the waves below. Feraligatr and Quagsire were slower to follow, and upon landing in the waters around Mt. Pyre below, they created awkwardly large and loud splashes. Lyra couldn't help but smile at the sight of her Quagsire propelling himself through the water after Suicune. "I'm proud of my little man," she whispered to herself.

"Quagsire's your little man?" Silver asked her.

Lyra nodded. "He was the second Pokémon I ever caught, not counting the Bellsprout I traded for Rocky." With her grip tight in Raikou's mane, she leaned back against Silver. "By the way…when we find Glaceon and cure Giratina, we need to figure out what we are. But for now, we have a goal in mind," she whispered to him.

Raikou seemed to sigh loudly. _It is very obvious to me what you two are. Now, we have work to do. _Before Lyra could ask him what he meant, Raikou roared loudly and threw himself from the edge of the cliff. Aside from the section that Lyra was holding onto, the rest of his mane was charged with electricity, and his tail thrummed behind them. Silver's grip on her was tight; he had nothing else to hold onto.

Lyra crouched low into Raikou's mane to protect her face from the wind. "I'm coming for you, baby," Lyra whispered, picturing her chipper little Glaceon in her mind's eye. "I promise you, I'm coming."

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "This is probably going to be the last short chapter I write for the rest of this fic, but considering this is leading up to the final few chapters, that statement doesn't really hold a lot of weight, now does it?"_

_So I didn't mean for this chapter to be so short, but that's just how the cookie crumbled this time around. Without the author's note, this chapter was only 2,716 words long. ((In other words, if you feel like doing math after all of this is said and done, you'll know how much time I waste blathering in the author's note, hahaha)). _

_Arceus is a really weird Pokemon, guys. Did you know he's the trio master of TWO trios? The Lake Trio (so Mesprit and her homies) and The Creation Trio (Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina). Like, forget that he's all-powerful and can change his type and all of that for a second and realize that he's basically two-timing each of his trios. Way to go, bro._

_Yes, Silver is not concerned about gender roles when he could possibly fall to his death off of Raikou's back if he doesn't hold onto Lyra. Because, traditionally, it should be the girl clinging to the guy for dear life off of the back of some moving object, whether it be a Pokemon or a vehicle or a horse outside of the Pokemon World. But then again Raikou didn't choose him for a best buddy._

_Thanks again for your loving reviews and support for this fic, guys. I could never thank you enough, and I really hope this fic brightens your day in some way. _

_Please keep up with the reviews and keep reading! We're so close to the resolution...*fans self dramatically_


	23. A World of Its Own

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters. But if I did…I don't know. I am content with Pokémon right now. Let's not change stuff about it.

* * *

To say that the midday sun was hot and bright to the ghosts of Mt. Pyre was an understatement. Shuppet and Duskull hid in the deepest, darkest shadows cast by the mountain; many had been injured by Rayquaza's seemingly random assault as it was, and the sun and water would have harmed them further. Those who were formerly daytime Pokémon, like Vulpix, braved the pain in the name of heating the flames within their bellies, even if their bellies were no longer russet and held an ugly, grizzled coloration. Though the average Vulpix could not float, these ones hovered in the air as though they'd been inflated with helium.

Aside from the Vulpix, however, very few ventured out into the sun.

This made the job of Suicune and her allies too easy. With a Hydro Pump from Suicune and various Water-type attacks from Feraligatr and Quagsire, the Vulpix dispersed, along with some phantasmal Wingull and a trio of Xatu. Kris sighed from Suicune's back, staring up into the sky at Raikou's shrinking figure going toward the portal to the Distortion World. "Y'all are so overpowered that stuff like this is too easy."

Suicune couldn't help but nod in agreement. High above, Ho-oh and the other flying Pokémon quickly dispatched a group of rather robust Dusknoir that had leapt into action with startling efficiency. She watched as Crobat flew circles around two, dizzying them to a point that they collide and lost altitude. Xatu took advantage of their position and blew them away with a powerful psychic concussion. Sparing very few antics or strategy, Ho-oh and Latias brutalized their opponents with a combination of physical attacks and powerful blast, making the Dusknoir scream for mercy so quickly that Suicune almost felt a twinge of sympathy for them. Meanwhile, The Absol that Lyra had called Mellow and Shuppet proved to be a dangerous duo as they took on six Dusknoir at once, easily sending them screeching back to their shadows.

Growling appreciatively, Feraligatr flipped over onto his back and watched the quickly-waning battle in the sky. "That Absol is absolutely lethal," he commented.

"When you have nothing to lose and you are filled with years of anger, you would be as deadly as she is," Suicune responded to him. She hadn't used her physical voice in so long that her words came out in little more than a low hiss. Nearby, Quagsire nodded slowly as he paddled in slow circles around Feraligatr. It was oddly endearing to Suicune, the way Quagsire gravitated around the beefy Water-type.

Feraligatr recaptured Suicune's attention with a lazy wave of his clawed front paw. "Or you could train under Lyra from your base evolution stage. Either method works."

Suicune was about to reply when a loud, clattering screech echoed across the water. Her gaze snapped over to a red and black figure hurtling through the sky toward them. Unsure of what this screeching red and black thing was, Suicune squinted at it. The oval-shaped face with greenish markings and pale eyes set deep into its skull were a dead giveaway for Suicune. "That is Deoxys," she said, her eyes narrowing. She had encountered the Pokémon once before when she had travelled alone many years ago. A mutated space virus that packed a punch, he either had no means of communication or viewed everyone as mundane and remained incommunicado. As Deoxys drew closer, she realized something was wrong. Normally, Deoxys had a very controlled flight and kept to his Normal forme religiously, but she noticed the spikes and tentacles associated with his Attack forme, and it flew erratically with an obvious sense of underlying aggression. "Prepare yourselves!" Suicune roared as Deoxys began charging up a powerful Hyper Beam. Feraligatr and Quagsire promptly submerged themselves as the Hyper Beam razed the surface of the water. Suicune shot a Hydro Pump in his direction, but Deoxys quickly spun out of the way and lashed one of his tentacles at her.

_Hold on, _Suicune commanded Kris and sprang away. She got a better look at Deoxys as he retracted his tentacle; his eyes alternated between blindingly white and gaudy, blood-toned red, and his coloration seemed rotted and rusty. It struck her that he was a beast, whether it was a willing transformation or not. Not only was he a beast, but he seemed to be a violent, systematic one at that. He ignored Suicune and her allies and flew straight toward the group in the sky.

"Shit, shit, shit. YOU GUYS! DEOXYS IS COMING YOUR WAY!" Kris bellowed at the top of her lungs. Whether or not anyone had heard her, Ho-oh seemed to notice Deoxys and let loose a sizzling Sacred Fire attack that burned almost as bright as the sun overhead. Like he had done with Suicune's Hydro Pump, Deoxys dodged and slammed Ho-oh across the throat and chest with a tentacle. Suicune's heart seemed to freeze mid-beat; Morty was on his back.

Kris has the same thought. "Oh no! Ho-oh! Morty!" She screamed as Ho-oh began to tumble from the sky, a crimson blur of feathers against the sultry sky. Grabbing a Pokeball from her belt, Kris released her Fearow and leapt onto her back. "C'mon girl! We gotta go help!"

_Kris, do not go after Ho-oh! You will get crushed! _She roared as the girl flew away on her Fearow's back. Suicune felt a massive pang of worry fill her chest, and she charged across the water against her better judgment to do what she could to help her young Trainer.

* * *

The pain that Ho-oh was experiencing as he fell free was incredibly unfamiliar. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't get his wings to snap open to stop his descent. Morty clung to the base of his neck with his knees. In spite of the dizzying tumble that they experienced, the young Gym Leader tore at Ho-oh's wings with his hands, trying to force them open. Ho-oh knew that Morty wouldn't survive the fall if he couldn't open his wings, but Deoxys seemed to have paralyzed them with a single blow. Many years ago, he remembered what Lugia had told him after encountering the violent Pokémon near the Whirl Islands. _There is a reason that the bastard is hated among Legendaries. He can be far more heartless than Mewtwo and as powerful as Arceus if he so feels like it. Plus, he regenerates. It is difficult to put him down for good, especially when he is not on your side._

Out of the corner of his eyes, Ho-oh noticed a Fearow speeding toward him. The young lass with the blue hair, Kris, seemed to be on her back. _What could she possibly do for me? _He thought, lights flashing across his vision. The oxygen deprivation was making this situation crawl along at a Slakoth's pace, making time seem as sludgy as mud as opposed to fluid and ever-changing like water. With expert maneuverability, the Fearow flitted beneath Ho-oh's tumbling form and Kris grabbed at Morty's arm, tearing him free of Ho-oh's back. As he wasn't entirely sure of which way was up or down, Fearow and Kris could've flown above Ho-oh's tumbling form. The Fearow seemed to strain with the extra weight, but when Kris ordered a Whirlwind attack, she fired it without complaint at Ho-oh.

His deadly descent toward the ocean slowed. The twister deposited him roughly onto a nearby boulder jutting free of the ocean. Slowly, his throat seemed to open again and he drew a deep, rattling breath. Kris leapt off beside him, demanding to know if he was all right. _Miss, I am breathing. I think that Deoxys's attack merely stunned me. It would have been unfortunate if I fell and killed Morty, I suppose, _Ho-oh said. Gazing up at the sky, he watched as Latias and Absol double-teamed him. Xatu, Shuppet, and Crobat, meanwhile, circled higher. _I sense that the motive of Deoxys is to tear Lyra and her allies apart._

From Fearow's back, Morty retorted, "Obviously. He totally ignored us and went straight up toward the portal. Can you move your wings again?"

Ho-oh shifted his shoulders. Pain crackled all the way down to the ends of his wings, but they were moving. Thankfully, there were plenty of thermals to sail on, but getting into the air would prove to be difficult with this deep of an ache. _Indeed. I suggest you stay on that Fearow until I can find a thermal. Kris, you should return to Suicune. Thank you for saving my life. _Before Morty could protest, Ho-oh lifted himself onto his legs shakily. Leaping from the boulder, he snapped his wings open and flapped hard until he found a humid thermal, lifting him high into the air. Morty followed him on Fearow's back.

Deoxys was currently engaged very directly with the Absol called Mellow. His tentacles whipped to and fro, threatening to knock her out of the sky, but she dodged him with ease. With a clinical sort of violence, Mellow cut notches into the tentacles that came to close to her. Deoxys let out a loud roar every time her blade pierced his hard hide. As Ho-oh wheeled closer, he heard her laugh wildly as her blade cut cleanly through one of his tentacles. The teal-toned appendage fell toward the ocean, leaving an oozing gray stump in its place and a stunned stillness to the alien Legendary. Latias took advantage of the moment and tore at Deoxys's face with a savage Dragon Claw, gouging three clean lines across the red and teal oval, just barely missing his eye. Cringing, Ho-oh shot a question to Morty, who still rode Fearow behind him. _Cure him. You were given a Destiny Knot and a Mental Herb, were you not? _He asked fiercely. _As much as I dislike him, it would be senseless to destroy him when he is not acting under his own jurisdiction._

Morty noticeably cringed before he glanced up at Ho-oh, nodded, and guided Fearow toward Deoxys. Passing the message along to Latias and Absol, Ho-oh flared his wings and forced them down hard. He rocketed high into the air. Glancing up, he noticed Raikou pushing through the portal to the Distortion World. _They can try that asinine plan of theirs now, I suppose, _Ho-oh thought as Morty whipped the rolled-up end of the Destiny Knot, looping it around Deoxys's neck.

By the time Deoxys began coming around from the shock of having his face and arm mauled, it was too late for him to initiate any sort of counterattack. Morty pulled it tight, and suddenly Deoxys's wounds, which weren't healing, began to heal. A healthy, normal individual of the rare alien species possessed the ability to quickly repair any part of its body, but as a beast, Deoxys had not retained the ability. With the Destiny Knot around his neck, though, the stump of his tentacle began to regenerate quickly.

_Hand it to me, _boomed an androgynous, indeterminable sort of voice. _The herb. _

Morty and Fearow swooped past, handing Deoxys the herb. Without a discernible mouth, Deoxys merely absorbed the herb. "Ho-oh! He could fall out of the air! Go catch him!"

_I am more than capable, _Latias responded blithely slipping under Deoxys as his form began to shake in midair. Circling from afar, Ho-oh observed Mellow pushing Shuppet behind her as Deoxys's tentacles jerked. He lost altitude and collapsed onto Latias's waiting back. Moments later, his body relaxed once more, as though thousands of strings tied to his body had stopped being ripped at all at once. _For such a skinny-looking Pokémon, Deoxys sure weighs a lot, _Latias commented privately to Ho-oh.

He heaved a sigh. _Tell him to get up and leave, then, if he is too heavy for you._

Mere seconds later, Deoxys sat up. His tentacles reverted into large, bulky hands, and he examined them with a cool look in his eye. _I don't feel the insatiable need to kill someone. This is wonderful, _Deoxys muttered, but seemingly to himself. Looking Ho-oh dead in the eye, he dipped his head. _I apologize for the damage I caused you in the state I was in, _he said quietly. _If you had died, your region would have suffered spectacularly. _Without further warning or expression of gratitude that seemed most uncustomary for the Legendary, Deoxys lifted off of Latias's back and jetted away, his figure vanishing quickly into the sky.

"That wasn't so bad," Morty decided aloud. Fearow brought the Gym Leader to Ho-oh's height; he shook visibly, from the ends of his blonde hair to the tips of his toes. He'd clearly been afraid for his life earlier.

Ho-oh, however, gazed at the portal. _That was far too convenient, _he immediately told everyone in the vicinity. He even fired the thought down to Kris and Suicune, who circled far below.

"I think that Deoxys was just a big old distraction!" Kris shouted from far below. "How do we know that Silver and Lyra aren't stuck up in that Distortion World now?" A particularly brave Duskull swooped at her, and she batted it aside fearlessly.

Ho-oh's blood seemed to chill and congeal in his veins. He very rarely, if ever, got that feeling. _Mellow, _he said as he turned to the Absol. She gazed over at him, squinting painfully against the blaring sunlight. _Try to cross the portal to the Distortion World. Bring Latias with._

The two nodded at the order and jetted off. Ho-oh felt a pang of worry for Raikou; one of his messengers was already missing, though he could sense all three in a close proximity. The two reached the portal quickly, unburdened by extra weight. Mellow penetrated it in one fell swoop, but Latias rammed into it as though it had magically turned solid in the split second after the Dark-type had gone through. She lost a few yards of altitude before catching herself, hovering shakily below the portal. Shuppet, the ungodly sweet little Pokémon, flitted around Latias, jabbering worried comments. _Latias! What happened? _Ho-oh demanded, flapping over.

_Right after Mellow went through, it got this solid, diamond-like look to it. I was going too fast and couldn't stop; I slammed straight into it. Damn, did it _ever _feel solid! _Latias commented, massaging her noggin.

Shuppet nuzzled her. "It's okay. Do you want me to try? Maybe Giratina decided that only ghosts or beasts can go through after Lyra and her friends went in. I remember the Dusknoir talking about how Giratina could control who can and can't come into the Distortion World," she said.

_I am grateful that you would be willing to do that for us, but you are very young and inexperienced, _Ho-oh said. _I would not want to send you into a place where you could be harmed._

She chuckled, but it was not a happy sound. "Pardon, but if I can safely go in there, shouldn't I go in there, Mr. Ho-oh? Because if Giratina has shut everyone out like that, he's probably up to no good! It makes me worry about Lyra and Silver and Raikou," she added, glaring at Ho-oh with a fury in her eyes that made his stomach ache. Before he could object once more, Shuppet shot upward, flying toward the portal. Ho-oh gaped at her as she easily slid through the portal, as though it was a puddle of water as opposed to a solid distortion of purple and black. He followed her, his pride aching. Even if it was a matter of whether or not she was a ghost, Ho-oh felt as though he and Latias had been showed up by Shuppet. _Maybe Latias didn't do it right. Maybe I could go through. _He tapped his bill against it twice. It felt rock-solid to him. Drawing back, he blasted his Sacred Fire against it. The flames rebounded, galvanizing his feathers and earning him a string of curses from Latias, who had to dodge tiny tongues of flame.

He drew back, shaking his head. From afar, Morty called, "So…only ghosts can go through?"

_Bring one of your Pokémon over here. We need to test this._

* * *

Passing through the portal to the Distortion World proved painful to Silver. It felt like his heart came to a standstill in his chest and his eyes were forced painfully into the back of his head. He clung to Lyra with his eyes tightly shut against the eminent discomfort. _If I die in this portal, I'll come back as a ghost and yodel at Giratina every day for the rest of eternity, even if Lyra cures him. _As soon as the feeling began to worry him, though, it abruptly stopped. Silver opened his eyes and found himself in a strange place. Instead of the hot, nearly colorless sky above Mt. Pyre, he saw strange, purple and black clouds stringing through a cavernous atmosphere. Pillars of rock and bodies of water hung at impossible angles, and eerie vegetation had clawed its way out of the unstable-looking ground in the places that ground even existed. Everything seemingly hung undisturbed in the dark atmosphere cast by the place.

Lyra tugged off her sunglasses and jumped off of Raikou's back. "What is this place?"

"It's the Distortion World. Didn't you hear them call it that before?"

"I get that this is the name of the place and all, but…" she trailed off, squinting at something in the distance. "What is that strange glow over there?" she asked.

Raikou's mane shuddered abruptly. Turning to Lyra, he growled, _Entei is here. And he is in deep trouble. We have to help him. _

Before the trio could move, a low, strange laugh filled the area. Silver wasn't the type to spook easily, but the sound was far more demonic than he would've cared to hear. A sickening sound, something like moist skin sliding over rock, could be heard. _That dratted Rayquaza leveled most of my forces, didn't he? It's a shame, too, because now I have to deal with more intruders. _From the dark recesses of the Distortion World appeared a long, grayish body flapping with tentacles and decorated in hues of black and red. Two glowing red eyes appeared from the darkness, and Silver understood this to Giratina, although this was a very different-looking Giratina than they one he'd seen in Lyra's book.

Instinctively, Silver stepped in front of Lyra as the Renegade Pokémon raised itself into an Arbok-like coil, regarding the trio with apparent interest. _Well, well. It has been many years since I've encountered humans at such a close distance. Tell me something, _he said eagerly, bowing his head close to Silver's and causing him to backup and shove Lyra further behind him. He realized that Lyra was basically sandwiched between his back and Raikou's growling face. _How old are you two? The last time I saw people, they were often so undernourished and tired that they didn't grow nearly as tall as you, Mr. Firehead. _He looked over him at Lyra. _This one looks like she might've been taller than the average man at the time._

Lyra stepped around Silver and gazed up at Giratina. "As nice as it is to make small talk, we're here because we know what you're doing to some of the Pokémon in this region," she said sharply, folding her arms across her chest fiercely. Silver was surprised by her businesslike voice.

Giratina gave another low, slithering laugh. He said, _My, he might have a fiery head, but you have a fiery heart. _He sniffed the air, tipping his head back slowly. _I sense that you've livid with me, young miss. Your face conceals it well, though. Congratulations._

Silver sighed. "Cut the bullshit. Your Dusknoir stole her Glaceon," he growled.

_And you are doing horrible things to Entei! _Raikou added, his eyes narrowed. _Let him go!_

If Giratina had eyebrows, they clearly would've been raised as he lurched back and grumbled, _Well, sorry, but it can't be done, my friend. Entei is powering a device that will call all of my beastly little followers to me. _Shaking his head woefully, he said, _Now, about that Glaceon. We have only one with us, and I hear she was taken from the Johto, of all places. She is an incredibly tough fighter; do I have the girl to thank for that?_

Lyra's eyes widened at the mention of her Glaceon. "Glaceon!" she bellowed. "Babe, I'm here! Come here!"

Giratina suddenly lashed forward, his head stopping just inches from Lyra's. Silver readied the Destiny Knot in his pocket; the moment he became violent was the moment he'd do his best to wrap the thing around his neck. _I'm not willing to spare one of my people so that her former Trainer will be happy, _he growled, all pretense at lightheartedness vanishing from his voice.

Lyra folded her arms across her chest and huffed out a heavy sigh. Noticing the lack of fear in her posture, Silver found himself unpleasantly shocked as Lyra snapped, "So that's what this is all about? You're trying to populate the Distortion World with Pokémon that don't even want to be here? That's low of you."

Silver shot Lyra a look, warning her to shut her mouth. But her voice took on a warm, caramel tone as she added, "However, I understand that this all you've known all of your life. Arceus never treated you well, even though you were one of his four sons. You think there's nothing but force in life: brute force." Silver wanted to snarl at Lyra as she reached out, touching his head crest gently. "Plus, you've been alone for millennia. I'll bet that gets tiring."

_What the hell are you doing?! _Raikou snarled at Lyra furiously. Silver's thoughts mirrored the yellow Legendary's. What was the purpose for bargaining and sympathizing with a Pokémon that was universally accepted as evil?

Giratina's eyes took on a faint fog; in the short span of time that he'd communicated with the humans and Raikou, his mood had changed greatly. He closed his eyes as Lyra's fingers traced a gentle pattern against his head crest. _You're one of the few humans who hasn't decided to run or attack me upon seeing me, you know, _he said, his voice low.

Lyra smiled at the large Legendary; Silver noticed a forced quality to her expression, though. In spite of her kindness aimed toward Giratina, she understood that he'd also ordered her Pokémon to be stolen. "When you say that you're using Entei's energy…what do you mean?" she asked, suddenly changing the subject.

He opened one eye slightly as Lyra's hand continued its slow trail around Giratina's head crest. _The device that I am powering with his energy will kill him. It is sending pulses of energy that will attract my beasts from as far away as the Johto. Obviously, it takes a lot of energy to power. It is good that Entei is young and strong; his life force will last long and send the pulses of energy from the device further._

Silver had to restrain Raikou from attacking Giratina with a forceful arm thrown out in front of his chest. When Lyra was this close to the unstable, damaged beast, it wasn't certain as to who Giratina might lash out at if Raikou attacked him. "Why is Entei here?" Silver asked in as patient of a voice as he could manage.

_Many ghosts in his precious tower disappeared because of my Dusknoir. The fool felt compassion and came after them, _Giratina said, pulling away from Lyra's hand. He chuckled to himself, the sound raspy and ugly. As if coming to, his expression turned furious. _Now, I suggest you leave. The young miss's kind words cover up the rotting pool of rage I sense in your little group. I would rather not tear you to pieces over a silly misunderstanding like this._

Silver took Lyra by the forearm. He didn't want her to get hurt or killed because of her insistence with this beast. She saw the expression of defeat on his face and tore her arm free of his grasp, running straight up to Giratina.

"Giratina, please!" Lyra cried, her voice filled with desperation. "Glaceon is a Pokémon I've had since I was ten, and when she was an Eevee, she always wanted to be a Glaceon and to be on my team when I became Champion. She's barely gotten to enjoy that; we had like three battles together before I lost my title, for Heaven's sake. All these other Pokémon…you're stealing their dreams, too! Imagine all of the Zubat and Golbat who've wanted to fly the skies as Crobat! The Trainer's Pokémon you've stolen that wanted to become greater than they are! Those who've wanted to travel the world! Think about it!" She paused for a breath, her knees wobbling, and then added more softly, "Why are you doing to others what Arceus did to you? Why would you do something to others that you've hated so much to yourself?"

Giratina gazed down at her with hard eyes. _I want others to understand my pain. I have spent millennia being ostracized and alone. I am tired of suffering alone. If it makes you shut up, I will return your Glaceon to you, but you aren't going to change my plans._

"Lyra, take his offer." Silver urged. With wild, tear-filled eyes, she looked back at him, her chest heaving.

Turning forward, it looked like she was about to accept his wan offer of merely returning Glaceon when a dark flash of fur speeding past him caught him off guard. "Get back!" he warned Lyra, who was preoccupied with her own thoughts.

It was Mellow he saw rushing at Giratina. Her blade flashing, she slashed a deep gouge in the Legendary's neck.

* * *

Lyra barely had time to get of the way when Giratina writhed in pain and anger, bellowing harshly in the language of ghosts at Mellow's appearance. "You were supposed to be dead!" he roared at her. One red-tipped tentacle flashed close to Lyra, who had to throw herself to the ground to get out of the way in time.

Mellow smirked at him from nearby, keeping a comfortable battle stance nearby. "No such luck," she commented in her deep voice, leaping into action once more.

Rough arms dragged Lyra to her feet. "Lyra, we need to go," Silver growled in her ear. "We'll get killed."

Mellow glanced back at them after tearing a new slash in Giratina's gray flesh, and then glanced in the direction of the light in the distance. She gave a nod as she sprang easily out of Giratina's attack range. Years alone seemed to have dulled his physical fighting skills. Grabbing at Silver, Lyra whispered, "Mellow wants us to go help Entei."

"The moment you tamper with that device is the moment I decide to eradicate you!" Giratina bellowed, once again in the ghostly language, as Lyra relayed what she interpreted to be Mellow's message to Raikou.

_We have to save Entei and locate your Glaceon if Mellow is willing to fight Giratina like this, _Raikou said, his tone eager. Lyra gave a serious nod and ran over to him, but Silver beat her to it.

He threw himself onto Raikou's back easily, and held out a hand soaked in nervous sweat. "This time, I'll have something substantial to hold on to, especially if we're in this trippy-ass dimension," Silver said, attempting to shoot her confident smirk and failing wildly at it.

Lyra didn't have time to argue. She took it, and he pulled her on just as Raikou took flight, throwing a wide berth around the battling Legendary and the beast that had turned on him. She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and pressed her forehead against his back as Raikou navigated through the debris field that seemed to make up the Distortion World. Her thighs tightened around her rival as Raikou made a hairpin turn around something. _Sorry, _was all they heard from him as he righted himself.

Though Lyra wasn't the sort to pray, she prayed that she'd get everyone involved in this mess out safely…and also that Raikou didn't run into any debris in the time that he was flying. _Not that I'd pray to you, Arceus. You have done a terrible job as a Trio Master for Giratina and his siblings, oh my goodness, _she decided wryly as she tightened her grip further on Silver as they delved deeper into the mess known as the Distortion World.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to this week's episode of "Drum major duties got in the way of writing, and I'm sorry that my update speed is slowing down once again, but will the action and drama in this chapter make up for that?" *hopes hard that it does* On the other hand, being a drum major is seriously fun and rewarding. Music is just fabulous in general  
_

_Yes, Silver's ghostly vengeance is a mighty yodel. Can I get a chorus of "WTF?" Well, what else could he do as a ghost? Would Giratina truly be frightened of his crimson glare? I doubt it. Spooky occurences? He lives in the Distortion World, kiddies. But yodeling? That would mortify Giratina on at least seventeen levels..._

_Morty should probably stop riding Ho-oh for a while. Things keep going awry when he does. Dislocated shoulders, Deoxys attacks, etc…and before anyone asks, Deoxys could become a beast due to knowing the move Nightshade-which is distinctly a Ghost-type move. Obviously, the one in the story uses the move.  
_

_By the way, I really like Deoxys. I am totally into space and biological sciences, and when I learned that Deoxys was a mutant space virus Pokémon, I pretty much had an attack of the fangirling. Plus, the idea of DNA (Defense, Normal, and Attack were the first forms revealed of it, if you didn't notice. And then they threw in the Speed from and ruined the nice little thing they had going there) and __**deoxy**__ribonucleic acid in its name? Isn't that cool? AND DO YOU KNOW SOMETHING ELSE? One way that a virus conquers its host by tricking their DNA into replicating wrong to produce more baby viruses. AND VIRUSES ARE NEITHER ALIVE OR DEAD. THEY DON'T HAVE ALL THE QUALITIES OF BEING A LIVING ORGANISM but this _

_Anyway, sorry for my science blurb…_

_Stuff is definitely winding down here. I actually only have about four more chapters planned at most, guys (and that includes something of an epilogue). I've had fun with this story, but soon I'll lose my update speed and time to write, so I want to finish this off within the next two weeks or so. I don't leave you guys hanging. After this, I'm returning to work on the trio of original stories and intermittently working on the Sequelshipping AU I've had on the backburner for a long time—that is, if I'll have the time to._

_Once again, I'd love to thank all of my readers/reviewers/favoriters/followers. You're incredible, guys, sticking with me straight to the end of this wild fic._

_Please review! I love your thoughts and opinions. You guys are fab!_


	24. Sans Requiem

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there'd be a 100-foot long boa constrictor-looking evolution for Dunsparce so people would stop making fun of it.

* * *

Mellow loved the rush of battle, the solid feeling when she landed a blow. In her utter fury against Giratina's betrayal of her earlier that day, there was something soothing. Having spent most of her life ostracized and hated, Mellow took it out Giratina, mercilessly dealing him blows while all he could manage to do to her was clip her with his tentacles twice. He missed her once again, and Absol took advantage, darting up his tentacle and driving her blade straight through the base of it like she had done with Deoxys earlier. The severed appendage fell, and Giratina roared in pain. "That's what you get when you make an Absol snap, you son of a b****!" Mellow jibed, leaping free as another one of his tentacles attempted to flatten her.

Giratina spewed ghostly flames at her, which Mellow avoided easily. She'd done all of his dirty work and fought all of his battles; she was keen and strong. He had allowed himself to go soft in disposing all of his duties onto his former second-in-command. "Do you regret it yet?"she asked in a falsely mild manner as he wheezed; it had been a while since he puffed out his dragon fire like that.

He glared at her furiously from his exhausted position. "I gave you a purpose, and you denied that purpose, Mellow. You betrayed me."  
Laughing coldly, Mellow fired off a powerful Dark Pulse attack; it struck Giratina straight in the throat. "Oh, don't get me started on betrayal. I've spent my whole life being blamed for floods and earthquakes that aren't my fault. I'm seventy-seven years old, Giratina. I am obligated morally to do the right thing, but every time I do, I am ostracized. I am _cast out _and left to die, and that is what you did to me. I refused to kill an important Legendary, and you decided that you would let him kill me instead." Firing off more Dark Pulses in rapid succession, she advanced on her former leader, who shook in pain and anger as he tried to steady himself. "It's a shame that you were counting on him murdering me. He showed compassion! No one has ever shown me compassion, and I will make sure that Rayquaza doesn't regret that!" Rushing forward after her last Dark Pulse attack was fired, she blasted his throat with a Shadow Ball and tore at him with her head blade.

Moments later, as she dodged a tentacle that whipped sloppily at her, she heard a shocked gasp. "Mellow! What have you done to Giratina?" Legendary and Absol alike halted in their fighting to observe the Shuppet that had attached herself to Lyra staring at them with wide eyes. "Where's Lyra?" she asked, her voice frightened.

Giratina growled and tried to tear away from the currently paused battle, remembering the presence of humans in his Distortion World, but Mellow pummeled him with another Dark Pulse. "Go after that human and I'll cut your throat out," she threatened. "I know you can't die by bleeding out, but it'll hurt, and you'll be unable to do much of anything while it heals. After all, your body still needs oxygen to function, and when you can't get it…" Mellow shook her head, a vicious smirk contorting her features.

Disregarding her threat entirely, Giratina forced himself in the direction of the humans. Mellow gave Shuppet a sanguine sort of shrug before rushing after him once more.

* * *

Lyra thought she was going to be sick by the time Raikou landed. The flight had been unstable, and with only Silver to hang on to who only had Raikou's mane to cling to, she'd been less than thrilled with the process. After all, she hadn't come this far only to get tossed from Raikou's back in mid-Distortion World. As soon as Raikou landed, she slid off and fell to her knees, convinced that she was about to throw up. Her stomach churned demonically as Silver got off beside her, seemingly less nauseated by the wild ride. However, Raikou spared them no sympathy as he charged off in a new direction and howled, _Entei! _

Braving the worst of the intense nausea, Lyra looked up to see the Legendary charging toward a very strange sight. Giving off an eerie violet glow, a circle of massive boulders spun slowly, generating a low hum that shook Lyra deep in her bones. At the center of the spinning boulders was, to Lyra's horror, the exhausted, bedraggled figure of Entei. _That's the device, _Lyra realized in vague horror. _It's killing Entei. _She practically leapt to her feet and grabbed Silver's hand, urging him to stand up. "It's going to kill Entei!" she hissed.

Silver got to his feet quickly, nodding to her. "Let's make sure it doesn't or else Raikou is going to flip his shit."

They found Raikou standing just outside the ring of stones, his chest heaving. Lyra didn't have to see his face to know he was completely horrified by the sight of what was basically his brother slowly dying from the loss of energy. _He's not responding to me, _Raikou whimpered as Lyra drew close. _As soon as I came near he told me not to come in contact with that energy, and now he's not responding. _

Silver looked upward at the spires of energy that pulsated violet and green. "These rocks are generating whatever it is that brings the beasts here, right? All those little threads of energy coming off of Entei make the rocks move."

"So we stop the boulders," Lyra said simply. _That'll take some power. They're freaking huge, _she thought to herself, gazing up at the Tugging a Heavy Ball from her belt, she added, "I have just the Pokémon for that."

Moments later, Silver had to duck out of the way. A bulky silver tail swung right where his head had been. Rocky the Steelix settled his massive form with his head near Lyra. A glance in his direction told her that she hadn't grown; his head, sitting flat on the ground, was still as tall as her shoulder. Then, she got down to business, as always. "Rocky, we have a problem. Do you think you can knock those giant boulders out of business and not hurt Entei?" she asked him.

Rocky gave a nod and reared up. "Guys, clear out!" Lyra cried, rushing out of the way. "Rocky is forty-five feet long and we don't want him to accidentally hit someone."

"I thought Steelix were only supposed to be thirty feet long!" Silver called as he watched the Iron Snake Pokémon lunge at one of the boulders, wrapping his massive form around it.

Raikou appeared next to his human companions, his facial expression conveying all-consuming worry. In spite of this, he jokingly said, _My, my, Rocky didn't quite get the memo on species size. How much does he weigh?_

"1,300 pounds," Lyra responded as Rocky's thick body constricted on the boulder, raising hairline cracks in its surface as it continued its deadly circle. "Let's help him out." Lyra released her remaining Pokémon and set off toward the next boulder coming around. Typhlosion, Arcanine, and Stantler quickly began to follow her as she explained what they were going to do. As they reached the boulder, Typhlosion glanced around and stomped the ground, triggering her Earthquake attack. The waves were concentrated and narrow, rocking only the two boulders closest to the small group. As it shuddered, Arcanine bolted up to it and slammed it with his shoulder, tipping it ever so slightly.

Lyra glanced over her shoulder to see Silver and Raikou working on one with brute physical force, ramming into it in a manner not unlike the one Arcanine used. She sighed. _Leaving Feraligatr back with Kris mightn't have been the best of plans. _Turning to Stantler, she ordered, "Go help them." As Stantler charged off and Lyra moved toward the boulder that Typhlosion and Arcanine were rapidly decimating, a loud, resounding thud greeted their ears. Rocky's boulder had collapsed spectacularly onto the ground. Clouds of dust whirled through the air as Rocky crushed the inanimate boulder and rumbled onto the next one.

Typhlosion rattled the boulders once more with a violent Earthquake. Lyra and Arcanine simultaneously threw themselves into the boulder that ground over the stone; it began to tilt ominously in the direction of the stone her companions were working on. "Scram!" Lyra shouted to them. All three darted out just in time as the boulder slammed to the ground, jamming the movement of the one Silver and the other Pokémon had attempted to knock over. Within seconds, the rest of the circle skittered to a halt; this sharp stop kicked up violet-toned dust and drained the glow of energy from the air. She took the opportunity to rush into the center. "Entei! Are you all right?" she called.

Lifting his head wearily, Lyra was greeted by the grotesque sight of his face. A long gash tore across the side of his face and oozed the strange, gold-hinted scarlet blood that Ho-oh's messengers all seemed to bleed. Judging by the tattered scabs around it, it had mostly healed before Giratina had started draining his energies. With effort, he said, _I will live._

Digging into her backpack, Lyra snatched out a Hyper Potion and darted over to him. "Oh, Aunt Rina will be so happy you're alive, and Ho-oh and Suicune, too," she said, heaving a sigh of relief as she sprayed the concoction over his wound.

Raikou bounded over to Entei. The two butted foreheads affectionately as brothers might and began to converse in a low growl. Smiling briefly, Lyra watched them. As she watched the affection between the two friends, a realization slapped her across the face with the audacity of a wronged diva. _Where is Glaceon? _Lyra thought, panic building low in her gut. "Glaceon!" she yelled. "Where are you!?"

The Distortion World held no answers. Giratina's pained roars echoed, and her own voice danced through distant floating rocks mockingly. Entei and Raikou watched her as she charged out of the circle of boulders and screamed, "GLACEON!" The entire realm seemed to fall silent at her pained cry. "GLACEON!" she screamed again…and again…and again…Typhlosion's warmth against her side felt as distant as it had when she'd originally been Cursed and Silver's arm slung around her neck felt too light. She forced herself to breathe, to not cry and curse. They'd barely been around the Distortion World Yet. Likewise, Glaceon could easily be outside of the Distortion World and already cured by one of her allies. _But what if she isn't near at all? _An insidious little voice at the back of her mind whispered. _What if your search turns up fruitless?_

Before she could contemplate how to go about seeking out Glaceon, Entei's voice suddenly broke through her moodily pensive state. _Glaceon…? I saw an Eeveelution earlier, very close to here. It would not have been more than half an hour ago, and the Eeveelution in question stayed for a while. Unfortunately, I could not tell what species it was very clearly._

Lyra's eyes snapped over to him. "Do you know which way it would've gone?"

_Straight that way, _Entei said, nodding directly forward. _However, direction is oftentimes lost in the Distortion World. I cannot be sure if that's the right way or not._

Suddenly, Raikou cut in, _Or you could turn around right now. That would be quite a bit easier, I'd like to think._

Lyra turned and gasped. Typhlosion and Silver were slow to follow, but Lyra's eyes were fast as they absorbed the sight of a tattered, indigo Glaceon with lustrous red eyes staring at her Trainer. There was no recognition in the Eeveelution's eyes as she stared down her Trainer, her eyes frigid like liquid nitrogen.

"Get the Mental Herb ready," Lyra whispered to Silver as she reached for a length of Destiny Knot. She'd be damned if she didn't cure her beloved Pokémon of

her horrible condition. "We're saving her and then we're getting Mellow out of that fight she picked, okay?"

"How are we going to do that?" Silver asked in an irritated tone.

Shrugging, Lyra retorted, "You've been good at improvising today. Maybe we'll just go that route." Before Silver could realize that she had been talking about his out-of-the-blue kiss earlier, Lyra charged toward her sought-after Pokémon.

* * *

Typhlosion longed to roll her eyes at her human's life-endangering approach to subduing her crazed Eeveelution, but she immediately sprang into action as Glaceon reacted quite defensively. Wouldn't it have been smarter to slowly approach the hostile Pokémon? Regardless, Typhlosion stomped her foot, sending a seismic wave outward that nearly threw Glaceon off her feet. Nearby, Silver circled around behind and readied the Mental Herb. Lyra lunged for Glaceon. "Where is your brain function, woman?" Typhlosion grumbled with a large sigh as her Trainer attempted to tackle her Pokémon to the ground.

Glaceon slid clear of her Trainer's fingertips. Typhlosion fired another Earthquake; she feared that a Fire-type attack would anger the aggressive Pokémon further. With agility and deadly grace, the Eeveelution leapt off the ground, avoiding the ripple of the earth that Typhlosion had created. "Smart little shit," she growled, preparing to load up another one.

Turning sharply toward Typhlosion, Glaceon fired a Water Pulse attack that the Starter had completely forgotten that she had. It slammed her in the gut with enough power to knock her flat on her back. As she hit the ground, she didn't have time to call for help from the other Pokémon as Glaceon charged Silver. Instead of running scared, the redhead stood solidly in Glaceon's path. The Eeveelution lunged at him, her teeth bared and glistening with ice. Narrowing his eyes, Silver held out his arm in front of him and crooked it just in time for Glaceon to sink her Ice Fang attack fiercely into his forearm.

And Typhlosion thought Lyra was being reckless and stupid.

"Silver!" Lyra exclaimed, her tone filled with shock as ice crept up his forearm.

Grimacing, he snarled, "Get the Destiny Knot over here right now before I lose my tolerance for this."

Typhlosion watched, amazed, as Lyra sprinted over and adeptly wrapped the Destiny Knot around Glaceon's left paw. _I can't believe the amount of suffering he's willing to endure for her, _she thought in amazement. As the third loop enclosed Glaceon's paw, she suddenly let go of Silver's forearm and dropped heavily to the ground. He crouched beside her as she opened her eyes in a hazy, sleep-deprived manner. "Lyra…? You…came all this way for me?" she whispered in the Pokémon language, and Typhlosion wished dearly that she could translate for her Trainer. There was such surprise and happiness in her weary little voice.

With his good arm, Silver held out the Mental Herb. Glaceon's eyes grew big at the sight of it, and she immediately snatched it from his fingers. Lyra watched with greedy, hopeful eyes as Glaceon's form began to convulse and wriggle beneath her.

During this moment, Rocky slithered closer to Typhlosion. The two were old friends, closer than any of their other teammates due to similarities in personality. "If my flesh were as soft as Silver's and I'd been bitten with an Ice Fang, I'd be rolling around on the ground screaming. That hurts like a mother," Rocky said in a voice that was of a higher pitch than what seemed natural for his size.

"He's an odd boy," Typhlosion retorted with a shrug.

Glaceon's coloration returned to normal, the indigo dissipating from her fur. Moments later, she slowly sat up, only to be engulfed in a tight embrace from her Trainer. "Glaceon!" she cried, grinning broadly. "You're all right!"

"Lyra, quit it! You're choking me!" Glaceon wheezed, but she pushed into Lyra's hug fiercely, butting her head up under her chin.

Lyra gazed across at Silver as she cradled her beloved Pokémon. "Thank you," she murmured. Then, she noticed the bloody, icy wound on his arm. "Oh shit. We need to take care of that. I'll bet an Ice Heal would work on people, too."

Rocky nodded sagely. "It does, actually."

"How do you know this?"

"Lyra and I trained with Jasmine for a while. Her methods are unorthodox."

"…do I want to ask how you guys came to figure out that a person can use an Ice Heal?"

"Probably not."

"Tell me anyway. Later."

The Ice Heal was applied to Silver's arms, melting the ice and reversing the obvious cold damage. Lyra did it gently, asking for permission to keep working on his arm or to touch certain areas. "Earlier you said Silver is an odd boy, but Lyra is kind of the odd girl that suits that odd boy," Typhlosion commented as her trainer hesitantly pressed a kiss to Silver's forearm, making his face turn a shade of red never before seen on Earth.

"Pretty sure Raikou ships it," Rocky said conspiratorially, drawing attention to the sly look on Raikou's face as he watched the interaction between the two humans.

Typhlosion glanced over at Rocky. "I still say I'm turning him into a T-bone if he hurts her."

"Fair enough."

Gathering a much happier-looking Glaceon into her arms, Lyra stood up. "We left Mellow with Giratina. We need to go back and help her and see if we can cure Giratina as well."

_If you were to administer the cure to him, you'd cure all of them, _Entei wheezed. Everyone turned to look at him as he added, _because every last one of these Pokémon are infected with some of Giratina's dark aura. When the source of an aura like that is cut off, all the little glints of it are cut off, too._

Typhlosion felt a crippling chill enter her system. No wonder every single one of them seemed to be blinded with hate; that was one of Giratina's prominent traits. Lyra turned to her released Pokémon. "We need to move quickly. Will you all be offended if I returned you to your Pokeball? If I call you out anytime soon, that might mean that you're expected to start battling immediately and without question," Lyra said, her tone incredibly apologetic as she ruffled her Glaceon's ear affectionately.

Typhlosion shook her head. The red light of the Pokeball engulfed her, and as it did, she prayed for the safety of her Trainer and every Pokémon under Giratina's command.

* * *

Silver didn't even have to see Lyra's face to know that she was grinning. Snugly secured in her Pokeball was Glaceon—and a cured Glaceon, too; likewise, she'd just learned that there was a way to cure every single Pokémon turned into a beast by Entei.

As he clung to Raikou's mane (with Lyra hugging him tightly from behind), he noticed the inside of his forearm had mostly healed already. _I had no freaking clue that Ice Heals worked on humans. And…those little kids that I thought were stupid for asking someone to kiss a cut to make it feel better…yeah…they're not that stupid, _Silver thought to himself, his cheeks hot at the thought of Lyra initiating any sort of kiss, even if it was just a kiss on his wounded forearm.

He glanced behind them. Entei couldn't fly, but the way he ran suggested a certain sort of grace that only flying Pokémon usually had. Springing easily off the floating rocks and debris, Entei followed his less-recognized brother across the Distortion World with a deadly look in his eye.

"When this is all said and done…I'm thinking about offering Mellow and Shuppet a home with me, even if Mellow is vengeful and angry," Lyra said quietly into Silver's shoulder; he was only just able to catch her soft words.

He wasn't surprised by her admission. She'd obviously taken to Shuppet, and she clearly respected Mellow and wanted the best for the Pokémon's happiness and wellbeing. "Lyra, you can turn someone who's vengeful and angry into someone who can look at the world with clear, rational eyes and with a strong sense of right and wrong," he responded. "You did it with me. If you can just convince her to come with you, you can do that with Mellow, too, I promise."

Her arms tightened around his chest and waist affectionately. "You think so?"

"Don't you dare call me a sap, but I kind of can't help but think that Arceus or someone out there made you just to make the world happier. And don't you dare tell anyone else I said that."

Lyra chuckled, and he felt her cheek press against his shoulder. She murmured, "Thank you for being here and helping me out through this. You've been so brave. Help me cure Giratina, and I'm in your debt forever."

Silver couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought. _In my debt, huh? _However, he merely stated, "Don't get all princess-y on me here."

"Sorry," she mumbled, earning a broader smirk from Silver and a chuff of laughter from Raikou. "Just…really emotional right now. I'm sorry."

Silver was about to reply when Raikou suddenly dodged a tentacle shooting past him. In their conversation, they had somehow failed to notice how unsafely close they'd gotten to Giratina and Mellow in their duel. With uncharacteristically wide eyes, Silver watched in shock as the much-smaller, much less powerful-looking Mellow neatly tore into Giratina with her head blade and danced out of his way. Unlike Giratina, whose hide seeped a strange, black substance, Mellow was barely marked, aside from a shallow-looking gash on her side and a chip in her tail. Sometime in between their wild run for the device Giratina was using and their return, Shuppet had entered the Distortion World and helped Mellow out by firing Shadow Balls at Giratina tirelessly. Yet it didn't hold a candle to Mellow's methodical violence.

_If I had an Egg Group, Mellow would be in it, _Raikou remarked lightly, earning a grimace from Silver. Was this really a good time to be joking around?

Giratina noticed the encroaching humans and Legendaries and failed to bite back a roar that surfaced beneath his face plate. _You destroyed my device! Do you know how difficult that was to set into motion?_ He snarled. He whipped a tentacle toward Raikou, who shocked it before swooping below it. _Do you know how difficult any of this was?_

"Giratina," Lyra said gently. All movement ceased as she peered over Silver's shoulder to gaze at the Renegade Pokémon. "We're giving Pokémon their freedom back. We're curing them of hatred. Your hatred, specifically. Would you let us cure you of it?" she asked. In spite of the way he showed his true colors earlier, Lyra was still willing to give the monster a chance.

Giratina gazed at her with a mixture of curiosity and faint disdain. _How can one be cured of hate?_

Lyra grabbed a swarthy length of Destiny Knot from her bag and tapped Raikou's side with her left foot. The Pokémon seemed to understand whatever it was the gesture meant; slowly, he began to descend to stand on the path of ground where Mellow and Giratina fought. "Let me show you," she said. When Raikou was about eight feet above the ground, Lyra jumped off. Though she landed awkwardly, she stood tall, with pride and faith holding her shoulders level. "Giratina, if I wrap this Destiny Knot around you, you'll be able to see things from my perspective. I know all about yours and how badly you were treated. And I know about how badly you've treated others because of that. Let me show you how I feel."

"How can your feelings cure me of hatred?" Giratina asked, but there was a strange uncertainty in his eyes at Lyra's earnestness.

As Lyra began to embark on another one of her heartfelt speeches, Raikou touched down to the ground. _I don't trust Giratina, Silver. I won't be openly aggressive, because that will endanger Lyra further, but I don't trust him. Get ready for a battle at any moment. Anything could break this moment of peace he's in, _Raikou said privately to Silver.

The redhead nodded. He felt the same way about this situation, right down to a T. Lyra was saying, "…and then maybe people won't hate you anymore. Maybe you'll be revered as a mighty Pokémon, but not a might Pokémon to ward against."

To Silver's immense surprise, Giratina bowed his head in a form of ragged defeat that could only be obtained by suffering some of the worst miseries known to life on Earth. He whispered, _Try it. You have alienated me today as well, destroying the plans I have taken millennia to conceive, but you extend a helping hand that no one has ever done for me. I don't deserve it, but please, young miss, try it._

Mellow stepped forward and hissed a warning to Giratina. He nodded. _I cannot blame you. Protect the girl, but I promise I won't attack anymore. _

"Did Lyra actually just talk Giratina into trying the cure? Like…we don't even have to attack him to try this?" Silver asked Raikou in a harsh whisper.

Raikou raised his brows. _She's a clever, emotional girl with a strong sense of leadership. She'd make a great politician, that one, _he responded, but Silver noticed that his muscles didn't relax. Unlike Lyra, he wouldn't risk everything and let his guard down to soothe Giratina. Not everyone could be as insanely stupid and wildly brilliant like she was.

Giratina extended one of his tentacles, stained with the gore that Mellow had carved from his body, and Lyra, with Mellow standing nearby, began to wrap the Destiny Knot around his tentacle. Everyone watched this moment. The air in Silver's lungs was thick and sludgy, as though a Grimer had forced his way down his trachea. _Please let this work. Don't let him snap and hurt her, _he pleaded with…some greater force. At the moment, from what he'd learned from looking through Lyra's book while she was sleeping, he had no fondness for Arceus, considering the treatment of his son.

He would later have less fondness for Morty as a large, purple blur flew into the Distortion World and raked shadowy claws against Giratina's face.

"Gengar, no!" Lyra screamed as a Pokémon that could only be one of Morty's Gengar mauled Giratina's face, destroying the peace she had just talked Giratina into. "Stop it! We were going to win peacefully!" she screeched, but Gengar had flown into a fit of rage.

Raikou nudged Silver with his shoulder, and nudged him hard. _Get moving. Now. Gengar screwed us all over, and that cure-all isn't going to work. _Silver nodded, yet he noticed Lyra still standing with the Destiny Knot in her hands, shocked and screaming at the Gengar that had so mindlessly attacked Giratina.

_At least with Mellow, she allowed us to save Entei and Glaceon, _Silver thought. He ran over to Lyra and grabbed her arm, pulling it hard. "Lyra! There's no use! Giratina is going to snap, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Think of all the Pokémon that there aren't enough Destiny Knots and Mental Herbs to cure! If we don't cure him we won't be able to cure all of them!" Lyra snapped, her voice thick with tears.

"We don't have time for this! We need to get out of here! We'll die whenever Giratina manages to toss Gengar!" he growled.

Lyra glanced back at him, devastation contorting her mouth into a grimace and dulling her eyes to a cloudy shade of cinnamon. However, she allowed herself to get dragged away by him as everyone else, aside from a rather frozen-looking Mellow who watched Giratina and Gengar with an inscrutable expression, darted to the portal.

Raikou looked at Entei. _This portal opens to a drop to the ocean. If I go out first, I'll catch you and then deposit you on Mt. Pyre, and then I'll get Silver and Lyra, _he said. Before anyone could argue, he threw himself at the Portal…only to bounce off as though it was a shadowy trampoline. Frowning, he tried again, only to be denied his leave once more.

Silver immediately realized what was wrong with the portal. "We're in the Distortion World. Ghost-types and the cursed can pass through. That's why we got through earlier; we had Lyra with us." He turned around, deciding that Mellow was the best way to go for help. She seemed to care somewhat about the wellbeing of the group; she could help ferry everyone out. "Mellow! Can you help us out here?" he shouted.

However, some strange force seemed to have her riveted to the spot as Gengar and Giratina attempted to tear each other's throats out. It was as though she didn't even hear him. Before Silver could shout again, Lyra pushed forward. "I'll open it," she said, her voice still flat and dejected. "Mellow is probably exhausted, anyway." Before anyone could object, Lyra strode toward the portal and pressed her hands against it, digging her fingers in. With effort, she seemingly ripped a hole in it that grew as she spread her hands apart, and then slid her body aside. Silver noticed the strain in her muscles, even through the bulk of the oversized flannel she was wearing over her tank top.

When everyone gave her strange or concerned looks, she sighed in exasperation and snapped, "Get moving! This isn't like parting a curtain! This thing is freaking heavy!" Entei and Raikou exchanged looks. Raikou pushed through the opening Lyra had created and waited outside for his comrade. The large, fiery Pokémon gave Lyra a nod of approval before following Raikou. As planned, Entei fell onto Raikou's back; the extra weight made his flight difficult, but he made it safely over to Mt. Pyre.

A loud screech of pain caught Silver's attention. Giratina had a lifeless-looking Gengar in his tentacles. With little regard for his health or safety, he tossed the smaller ghost aside easily and turned once again on Mellow. _Out of my way! _Giratina roared at her as she physically tensed. _The world must pay for crossing me!_

Silver wished Raikou would hurry up, but as he wished that, a sleek red and white Pokémon with eyes that were three shades lighter than Lyra's appeared. _Oh my. Seems like we have a bit of trouble here, huh? I'm Latias, by the way. I was the really grouchy-looking girl with yellow eyes earlier, _she introduced herself.

"Spare us the introductions please," Lyra muttered, her voice growing increasingly strained as Mellow and Giratina began their battle once more. Keeping the portal open was taking its toll on her. "Get Silver out of here and send someone to get me. Tell Morty I'm going to kill him for sending his Gengar in here. Silver, take my Pokeballs in case something goes wrong. I don't want my Pokemon trapped here with me."

Silver groaned but obliged. He slid her belt off of her waist, even though he growled, "Lyra, I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

_I can't carry both of you; I'm not large and powerful like Ho-oh or Rayquaza. Silver's weight will be a stretch, even. But I'll tell Ho-oh to come get Lyra once I get you out of here, _Latias promised Silver. _However, Rayquaza finally showed up and I think I'll have to interrupt their little chat. The bastard showed up late and he's getting in the way now._

Giving Lyra one final, desperate look, Silver pushed through the portal, experiencing none of the effects he'd felt coming in, and fell on Latias's back. Her feathers were so fine and reflective that he wondered if her species was ever hunted for such lovely things. "I'll help you out once Ho-oh gets here," he promised Lyra, urging Latias to stay put successfully. His rival nodded, giving him her best effort at a smile, though her face was drenched in sweat and the wound she'd gotten from Mellow had been torn open once more, dripping blood down her front.

_Calling him right now, _Latias interjected. _Ho-oh is on his way._

In the meantime, he leaned toward the portal. "Ho-oh is coming." He glanced up at the sky, noting the familiar shape of the Legendary in the sky, accompanied by a long, serpentine one. The winged silhouette of Ho-oh grew larger quickly, but Silver didn't know if it was enough time.

Lyra glanced behind her. "Giratina…is actually hurting Mellow. She's tired and he snapped. This battle isn't going to last long. If Ho-oh doesn't hurry up, Mellow will get badly hurt, and I'll be dragged into the Distortion World."

"Don't say things like that," Silver growled. He urged Ho-oh to hurry up silently, his features contorted with worry and anger. "Lyra, we're getting you out of there and we're curing all of the Pokémon out here. Giratina is not going to beat Mellow and he's not going to kill you."

With a grim expression, Lyra glanced back at the battle. Her eyes closed, and there was something in her face that Silver couldn't read. She looked up at him, and it was a sense of defeat that he saw in her eyes. In spite of this, she gave him a small smile as she said, "Silver…I just want you to know…that I love you. And I loved you all three years that we didn't talk because we were stupid. I want nothing more than for you to be happy in life."

Silver took her words like a punch to the gut, though they lit his heart in places that hadn't remembered what light and warmth were in years. Opening his mouth to respond, he was cut short as one of Giratina's red-tipped tentacles stretched through the portal, the dark rift, and wrapped itself around Lyra. "No!" Silver roared, a black, icy emotion stabbing him through the heart in the places that had just warmed up, and he grabbed for the tentacle to tear it off Lyra. He was too late. She was savagely yanked back into the Distortion World and to a grievous fate.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to "The second-to-last actual chapter took a long time to write; it was a tough chapter and I would've posted it four days ago, but I spent a lot of time tinkering around and I'm sorry." So…don't kill me for that? Or the cliffhanger?_

_Yep, I've really been picking on Morty in this fic. I apologize to him. He's been worse than useless in some cases. Honestly, I really do like him. Except, the thing is, he's not one of the stars of this fic, so, ehehehehe._

_Right, so I'm going to keep this short. I have to drive to school in under twenty minutes from now. Once again, thank you, my lovely readers/favoriters/reviewers/followers. You're all fabulous people. I promise I'll post the concluding chapter (and maybe an epilogue?) within the couple or days so that you don't have to wait for me once the ball gets rolling with my classes. Woot-woot for junior year of high school and college-level courses, everyone._

_Please review! I kind of want to know your opinions on this chapter…_


	25. Victory

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, Leaf (the female character from FireRed and LeafGreen) would appear as a character in the Pokemon Origins anime.

* * *

Silver sat on Latias's back, shock swamping his system. _Lyra. _The name resonated like a Perish Song in his mind, condemning his heart and his mind to a dark hole from which it would not return.

"Lyra." He said the name, and he longed for it to bring her back before the shock was overridden with a black emotion. "Lyra…LYRA!" he roared. Latias whispered condolences, but that didn't matter to him. With a dirty, badly-made fist, he punched the Distortion World barrier, wanting it to give. He slammed it over and over for at least two minutes until the skin split on his knuckles and blood poured down his hand. "Lyra…I love you. I love you so much, Lyra. I love you with every ounce of strength I have," he whispered, slamming his forehead against the portal.

From behind him came a voice that exacerbated his anger. "There's no point. She's gone," Morty, the Arceus-damned Gym Leader from Ecruteak City, the one whose Gengar had just ruined _everything, _sat behind him on Ho-oh.

The Gym Leader certainly wasn't prepared for Silver to fling himself off of Latias's back and onto Ho-oh's and punch him in the face with his bloody, torn-up fist.

_Silver! _Latias cried as Silver drove his elbow into the Gym Leader's chest. _What are you doing?!_

"F*** you, Morty! F*** you! Your f***ing Gengar ruined everything! Give me one of your ghosts! She'll die because of you, so help me, you stupid bastard!" Silver screamed, not caring how insane he had to look. "HELP ME GET HER BACK!"

Morty deflected Silver's next attack and threw him down against Ho-oh's back, pinning him. Tears prickled in his eyes when he noticed Morty's expression was filled with devastation as well. "This was Ho-oh's idea! He wanted to know how the portal worked! Don't blame me! And I'm not sending you back in there! Giratina will kill you, too!" he roared, his voice thick with barely-contained sobs.

"I don't give a f*** whose idea it was! I'm going in there! Better to die by her than live without her!" Silver roared, grabbing Morty by the shoulders and flinging him aside. He reached for the Gym Leader's belt to snag one of his Pokeballs.

_Silver. Please don't get yourself killed, _Raikou whispered, his voice filled with leaden shock. _Giratina is going to kill anyone that comes in his line of sight right now. I don't want another one of my human friends getting killed._

"Mellow's in there, I doubt Lyra's dead yet. Even if it wasn't going well for Mellow she'd pull through. And Gengar was in there, too. And Shuppet," Silver muttered to himself, his voice crazed. _But I don't trust anyone else to keep her safe. I have to go get her. I need to save her, and I need to save her now._

Before anyone could tell him otherwise, Silver lunged for Morty's belt again and snatched a Pokeball off of it. He pressed the button, releasing a Mismagius that squinted painfully against the sun. "Help me!" he begged the Pokémon, who looked relatively confused by the sudden change of scenery.

Morty lunged for Silver, trying to steal the Pokeball back, but Silver drove his elbow fiercely into Morty's bruised-looking shoulder, earning a loud howl of physical devastation from him. Mismagius's interest-filled gaze fell onto Silver; very few ever elbowed his Trainer in front of him. "Please help me," he croaked. "I need you to cross through the portal with me, otherwise Lyra will die. I know that you know her; please help her, and help me, too."

_Return his Pokémon right now, _Ho-oh commanded, but Silver would have none of that. When Morty lunged for him again, he took a chance and leapt off of Ho-oh's back. Morty shouted profanities as Silver fell—but surely enough, Mismagius caught Silver with its rippling arms. With a serious nod, the ghost levitated toward the portal with Silver.

"We have to save her," he growled, "or she'll never know that I felt the same way about her."

* * *

The moment Giratina grabbed her, Lyra prepared for two things: possibly dying and hopefully curing him of his hatred. As his tentacle wrapped around her, she let her hands drop so she could grab the length of Destiny Knot she'd stuffed unceremoniously into her pocket. Even if she couldn't save herself, she wanted to be able to save all of the Pokémon. He whipped her to the ground, and Lyra kept a firm grip on her wadded-up Destiny Knot even as the air was knocked violently from her lungs. As the stars cleared from her eyes, Lyra noticed Giratina crouching over her with a tentacle pushed forcefully against her ribs. His expression was entirely unhinged, suggesting there was little hope for a happy ending. Nearby, Mellow attempted to struggle to her feet while Gengar slumped motionless against the boulder he was thrown against, with a worn-looking Shuppet worrying over both of them. In his snapped state, Giratina was far more powerful than what he'd demonstrated earlier. The absence of their health reminded Lyra that she had to fly this one solo. Focusing her attention on Giratina, Lyra gave a depraved smirk, channeling all of the fourteen-year-old-Silver she could possibly muster, even as her heart skipped every third beat in fear of her life being ended brutally. "Taking out someone else's mistake on me?" she asked, slowly unraveling the Destiny Knot in her hand. She needed to stall him from attacking her.

Giratina's tentacle pressed hard against her ribs. _I don't trust you, _he growled. _It was all a ploy; you only wanted to savage me brutally in the end. _His dark blood dripped onto Lyra as he leaned his face in closer. _You can't eradicate me, you vapid woman._

"That isn't my plan!" Lyra exclaimed, desolation coloring her voice darkly. "I just want Pokémon like Mellow and Shuppet to be happy and free to do what they want! You say you want others to know how you feel, but you are so miserable! Why would you want anyone else to be as miserable? Do you really want everyone else to hurt as badly as you do?"

_Yes, _Giratina said, and his tentacle pushed down so hard on her ribs that she felt her lower ones crack. Lyra screamed. The sound seemed to splinter the Distortion World. _Why do you care so much about them? _He snapped, his voice swirling through Lyra's head strangely. _Why do you care so much about others? How do you do it? How can you do it?_

"I…just want…others…to be happy…and…free…" Lyra forced out. She couldn't breathe properly; she wondered if Giratina had punctured one of her lungs. "Life…is far too short…to…not…be…happy."

_What of the Pokémon you capture? You have them. I saw your belt and the devices you kept them in. Aren't they slaves? And what of that boy you confessed your love to when he will forever be burdened by the fact that you died here instead of living with him? Will he not be weighed down by the idea of what could be? _Giratina snarled.

Lyra closed her eyes and gave a smile. The thought of her beloved rival and her Pokémon friends dulled the pain. Whenever Giratina lost his momentary composure and killed Lyra, the thought of those she loved would be enough to keep her from suffering for too long. "Silver…won't…have to…guess…anymore…about me. That…should…make…m-make him…happy," she paused, trying to regain air before adding, "And…my…incredible… Pokémon…they…chose…me…not…the other way…around. They love…me," she wheezed.

_And won't it disappoint them that you chose to cross me and die? _Giratina snarled. Lyra opened her eyes slightly, watching one of his tentacles rise higher. He planned to smash her. End her. Go figure; she wanted to end this without violence; instead, she would die by the most violent means she could imagine. The irony was almost laughable.

A massive Shadow Ball blasted Giratina's raised tentacle, knocking him sideways. Lyra glanced sideways to see Shuppet and Gengar at ready, with Mellow standing, albeit shakily, at their head. She'd lost nearly all of her head blade and her back leg seeped volumes of blood due to her fight with Giratina, but she was standing and standing proudly at that. "Mellow…?" Lyra breathed.

_Do the cure. Now. We'll keep him immobile, _Mellow told her, half a smile tugging at her mouth. _You're too nice to die a death like this one. _Without another word spared, Giratina, Mellow and Shuppet triple-teamed the massive Legendary with Shadow Balls and other attacks, keeping him from moving the tentacle that was pressed over Lyra or moving away at all. With herculean effort, Lyra lifted her arm holding the mostly-untangled Destiny Knot. The movement hurt her injured ribs so badly she wanted to cry out, but she would do no such thing to alert Giratina. Gleaming with a violet hue in the light of the Distortion World, the Destiny Knot was wrapped tightly about the tentacle. She took the loose end in her hand and tied it around her own wrist.

Motion became a concept lost to Giratina. He froze in the middle of a slap at Gengar. Every active, writhing tentacle fell limp as the knot around Lyra's wrist was finished being tied. His expression of rage melted away, leaving a stark one of a bare bones understanding. Looking down at Lyra, he gently removed his tentacle from her ribs and her abdomen. _What…what have I done? _he whispered, his eyes massive in his hideous face. _I…I am so sorry_, he whispered, slumping forward.

Lyra held out a Mental Herb shakily. Breathing had become a difficult task, far more difficult than mustering the courage to stand up to this Pokémon and possibly die by him. "Giratina…eat this. You'll feel better. You'll forget the hatred and the horror."

He eyed the herb, and without a moment's hesitation, he dipped his head forward and ate it from Lyra's hand. The moment he entered his mouth, his eyes rolled back and he slumped to the ground, his form twitching. Mellow darted over to Lyra and cut the Destiny Knot tying the two together with her broken head blade. She accidentally sliced the outside of Lyra's wrist; her coordination seemed suddenly impaired. _Lyra, before I lose the language you understand, I'd like to thank you, _she said in a quiet voice. With each word, Lyra noticed it became more slurred; as the cure worked slowly through Giratina, it began to work on her, too. _No one has ever wished me happiness before, and as selflessly as you. So…thank you…for…every…_Mellow fell to her side, convulsing.

Lyra managed a weak smile as the black leaked from Mellow's fur, and the glow of her frightening red eyes softened. Her head blade, or what was left of it, lost its serrated edge, leaving a gorgeous Pokémon that reminded Lyra vaguely of the yin-yang symbol in her place. "No, Mellow…thank…you," she breathed.

Gengar and Shuppet rushed over to her. "Miss Lyra! No, no, no! Please don't die on us! You're too young and pretty and nice to become a ghost!" Shuppet cried as Gengar attempted to lift her from the ground, though he lacked the physical strength to do so.

"You're too…sweet…" Lyra complained, with a choked bark of laughter. Everything hurt so badly; she didn't have much air left in her body.

"Lyra, don't waste your breath. We'll get you out of here. I promise!" Shuppet cried, her eyes wide as Lyra began to lose focus.

_You're all so very kind, _Lyra thought. With unfocused eyes she noticed the white lump—Mellow—rise to her feet and dart after Gengar, who had resorted to dragging the human girl away.

Distantly, she heard a voice roar her name, and the slap of hurried footsteps on a rocky floor. Lyra recognized Silver's voice, but she felt that it wouldn't be like that night in Ecruteak, where she woke up from a nightmare to have Silver in her bed. She didn't know there would be any waking up from this slumber. Warm arms scooped her up, and something warm—lips, maybe?—pressed to her forehead, and sweet nothings and desperation hummed in her ears as Silver carried her away. _He came back for me. I'm sorry, Silver. I don't know if I can come back from this…even…for you…_

Lyra's eyelids fluttered shut, and a velvety blackness greeted her.

* * *

The thirty-six hours that passed after finding Lyra dragged so slowly for Silver that he was certain that Dialga, the master of time, had conspired against him to make him suffer more. Upon leaving the Distortion World with a badly-injured and unresponsive Lyra in his arms, he'd leapt onto a rather unsuspecting Raikou's back with the demand that he take her to the nearest hospital.

Sterile and painted in what was supposed to be soothing pastels, the Lilycove General Hospital was the place that Raikou had flown to at top speed. Teams of doctors and nurses had worked for eight hours straight on Lyra when they'd brought her in. Her list of injuries had included five broken ribs—one of which had punctured her right lung and nearly caused it to collapse—a partially dislocated jaw from blunt trauma, and some damage to her intestines and stomach had occurred due to "massive amounts of pressure and force". After three procedures in the span of twenty hours, all damage had been corrected and Lyra had been put under to rest. The doctor in charge of looking after Lyra, a slender, blonde woman named Dr. Millar, informed Silver that it was due to the large amount of physical and emotional stress the young woman had undergone.

"Don't worry, though. We've started lessening the dose it takes to put her under, and within a day or so she'll be awake and alert. And also ready to go home," the doctor had said in a voice that was much too clinical, trying to soothe the agitated Trainer as he paced back and forth when Lyra once again entered recovery.

Sixteen sleepless hours later, Silver realized this was the toll of curing a mad Legendary from his all-consuming hatred. Lyra hadn't been anywhere near death, but the physical shock and the emotional pain that followed had been enough to land her in the hospital for at least a day and a half now. Unlike Johto and Kanto hospitals, Hoenn had a strict family-only rule when a patient was unconscious. Lyra's mother had yet to make an appearance—the average travel time to the Hoenn took up to a week by boat and nearly two straight days of flying by airplane. After talking to her over the Pokegear twice, Silver had calmed her enough about Lyra's condition to spare her the expensive plane ticket. "If she wakes up in two hours, she'd be released in another ten, and quite frankly, Mrs. Soul, we'd already be headed back to the Johto by the time you even make it here by plane," Silver had assured her. Instead of worrying about Lyra, he'd merely gotten an earful about how her name was Chiyo, not Mrs. Soul, and that she had also dropped her husband's last name when he'd left her and her daughter.

Except now Silver was pacing the halls, mostly alone. Mellow had joined him in the hospital in her cured state with Shuppet in tow, along with Latias in her human form when she wasn't helping Morty, Rayquaza, Raikou, and Ho-oh relocate all of the Pokémon that had been cured by Lyra's nearly self-sacrificial work. Unlike Lyra, he couldn't converse with them and couldn't begin to guess at what Shuppet was saying every time she jabbered at him in her meek little voice.

"Are you Silver?" greeted an unfamiliar male voice. Ceasing to pace, Silver turned to see a man about Morty's age with silvery hair and lavender eyes, dressed primly in a black suit trimmed with purple accents. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar, but Silver couldn't put his finger on it.

His instinctual reaction was to frown. "Yeah. I am. Who are you?" he asked, his voice sounding flat and ragged to his own ears.

"I'm Steven Stone, a friend of Lyra's," he greeted in a somber voice. "I was blown away when I heard what she did. It doesn't surprise me by any stretch of the imagination, but it was just terrible to hear. I mean, I'd been working hard to rally a force against the ghosts at Mt. Pyre, but suddenly there were no more ghosts like the ones there." He paused, gauging Silver's reaction. "If I'd done it sooner, she wouldn't be here."

Silver couldn't find it in himself to be angry with his steely-haired stranger. "It's fine. She'll be fine," he said, more for himself than for Steven's sake. "But how do you know my name?"

He gestured toward the mop-headed figure of Latias's human form. "The young…lass…out there told me who you were and I had to meet you. Lyra was never the sort to be a fangirl, not even over particularly 'attractive' male Trainers with a lot of power, but yet she spent a lot of time oozing over you," Steven said with a faint smirk. "Consider yourself a lucky man, attracting her attention like that."

Silver found himself blushing slightly, wondering whether or not he should accept Steven's backhanded compliment, but he nodded. "I'm just happy she's alive," he said simply.

Steven took something out of his pocket and handed it to Silver. "Give this to Lyra when she wakes up, as a thank-you from me to her. Tell her to regain her Champion title, too. I find my current Johto counterpart to be quite…sullen. The rest of the Hoenn League has a gift for both of you, but it's a little too important to bring here." Before Silver could even glance at the object that had been pressed into his palm or ask what they were going to give them, Steven, apparently the Hoenn Champion, sauntered out of the hospital.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Silver glanced down at his palm. A Shiny Stone had been pressed into his hand…what did Lyra possibly need that for? Just when he thought he would be left alone once more, a hand tapped his shoulder. Silver turned to see a dark-haired male nurse with a tired expression and a dusting of stubble on his jaw. "Are you here for Lyra Soul?" he asked, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.

He nodded, trying not to look too anxious. "I am. What's up with her?"

"She's starting to wake up. We think it'd be nice for her to have familiar faces around her when she does. If you'd like, you can bring the Absol and the Shuppet with you," the nurse added. Silver didn't have to be told twice. Calling Mellow and Shuppet to him, he strode after the nurse. He glanced to see if Latias would follow, but she, too, had disappeared, like the enigma of a man known as Steven Stone.

Silver was escorted to a room in recovery, and along the way the nurse re-informed him that Lyra would be released if she was alert and showed signs of emotional and physical stability in the next few hours. Quite frankly, the hospital possessed little room for long-term patients. Once they arrived, the nurse let Silver and the two Pokémon into the room, but didn't follow. "Doctors and nurses have been poking and prodding and stitching her for the past day and a half. I doubt she wants to see any more of us right now," the nurse said, and he shut the door behind the ragtag group he'd let into the room.

Silver gazed at Lyra with a thick throat. With various machines and tubes hooked up to her body, Lyra seemed smaller and weaker than she ever had. Much of her body appeared to be bruised or scraped, yet with eyes that were just starting to open, she gazed at Silver.

Whatever it was that clogged Silver's throat thickened, and he took a seat next to her bed. Carefully he slid his hand under hers. "Lyra," he whispered, squeezing gently.

She gave him a faint smile, squeezing back. Her eyelids seemed heavy yet; they settled back over her eyes. Lifting her hand gently, Silver kissed the back of her hand. Quietly, he said, "Take your time. Don't force yourself awake like a dumbass."

Lyra chuckled softly. "But I am a dumbass," she whispered, lacing her fingers through his with some effort. Silver let their intertwined hands rest on the hospital bed as she added quietly, "Is Giratina cured?"

"Morty says he retreated far into the Distortion World after your cure took effect. All of the beasts were cured, too, like Entei guessed," Silver explained to her, reaching forward to brush hair from her forehead as her expression relazed. "Steven Stone came here. I think he's a condescending dick and everything, but he brought you this as a get-well present."

Lyra took the Shiny Stone in her other hand and opened her eyes to look at it. "Perfect," she breathed. "I can evolve my Togetic now."

"Didn't you give your Togetic to Ethan?"

"I tried. The two didn't get along well," she said airily, an amused smirk twitching on her lips. Silver couldn't help but smile himself. Togetic, one of Lyra's training projects back from when Silver and Lyra travelled the Kanto together, got along with almost anyone; it was a marvel that Ethan didn't fall under that expansive category.

However, Silver noticed Lyra's expression grow serious. "I'm sorry for the things I told you before Giratina pulled me into the Distortion World."

Silver's stomach twisted oddly. Frowning, he asked, "Why are you sorry about that?"

"It was untoward of me. And if I'd died, you would've had that to hold onto for all the years you lived after," she murmured, and she pulled her hand out of her grasp. "If you don't feel the same way…I understand."

Silver groaned. "Dammit, Lyra. Don't belittle yourself like that!" Reaching forward, he took her face into his palms, gazing at her intently. "I've been stupid, and I almost waited until it was too late to tell you as always."

"What are you saying?" she asked, her voice raspy.

Before he lost his nerve, Silver said, "Lyra, I've loved you for four years. I've wanted nothing more than to be with you since I was thirteen," he said. Hanging his head in shame, he added, "And like the stupid f***er I am, I lost you for three years. I lost our friendship, I lost everything we had."

Lyra was silent for a few moments, aside from the steady gust of her breath. She murmured, "Come closer."  
Silver looked at her curiously and leaned in. Slowly, she raised her hands to cup his face. "Closer, you doofus," she whispered.

He leaned in tentatively, and Lyra closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his in an almost apologetic manner. Silver's heart rate and breathing quickened, and he slid his arms down to wrap them around her back, deepening and strengthening their kiss. The gentle blips of Lyra's heart monitor became quicker, but neither Silver or Lyra cared. It was only when Mellow gave a polite cough from the corner she and Shuppet had delegated themselves to when the young lovers realized that they weren't exactly alone in the room.

"I want to say sorry, but I'm really not," Lyra stammered with a chuckle as Mellow rolled her eyes; the former rivals peeled away from each other at her obvious distaste in their actions.

Silver kept a level gaze on Lyra as Mellow and Shuppet took this as an invitation to come closer and greet her. She yelped in shock as the small ghost Pokémon threw herself into Lyra's arms, nuzzling her collarbone affectionately. "Hello, sweetheart!" she greeted Shuppet. As Shuppet chattered at her, she gazed at Mellow, who sat statuesque at the end of the bed with cool eyes. Her damaged head blade already began the process of growing back; new keratinous "Mellow…I can't thank you enough for what you did for all of us," she murmured, dipping her head.

"I owe you for saving Lyra's life, don't I?" Silver asked. Mellow gazed at him strangely, cocking her head. He held his hand out to her. "How about Lyra and I take care of you?" he asked.

With startled eyes, Mellow glanced at Lyra, who smiled at her kindly. "Would you let one of us take you in? You don't even have to battle for us or take orders from us; we just want you to have a home. You, too, Shuppet," Lyra added, brushing her hand over the ghost's head, earning a happy cry from the youngster. "Just let us—" Before she could finish, Mellow did something incredibly out-of-character. Eyes filled with certain gentleness, she gently padded toward Lyra on the bed, and without tripping over any of the tubes in the girl's arms, Mellow pressed the blade-less side of her face against Lyra's.

"I'll…take that as a yes?" Lyra questioned. Mellow pulled away and gave a shaky nod. The disbelief in her eyes was evident; yet, deep within them, Silver sensed a curl of desperation to find a home and with the human who seemed to care about her. Lyra smoothed Mellow's chest ruff good-naturedly. "Welcome to the family, you two," Lyra said breathily, embracing an overenthusiastic Shuppet in one arm and patting Mellow with the other.

Silver couldn't help but smile a little at Lyra's quiet enthusiasm. He let her spend some time chatting back and forth with the Pokémon without his interruption. In their conversation, Shuppet mostly chattered at Lyra and translated a few things for Mellow, since Lyra couldn't understand her now that she wasn't a beast anymore. Minutes had passed before Shuppet realized Silver was waiting silently and with more patience than he could usually muster. Mellow seemed to have pointed this out to her, though. With an apologetic look on her young, sweet face, she said something to him, which Lyra translated kindly. "She says that she's sorry for monopolizing me—nice word, Shuppet," she added, poking her horn affectionately. "She and Mellow are going to step out for a bit."

The two Pokémon let themselves out of the sterile room; unlike many wild Pokémon, Mellow seemed to have a keen sense for how human establishments and belongings worked. Moments of silence stretched between Lyra and Silver. Gazing at Silver with hazy tawny eyes, Lyra asked, "Silver…what are we?"  
"Vague question you're asking there. Trainers? Heterotrophs? Johtonese—well, technically, I'm Kantonese, but you get what I mean. You're not a moron."

Lyra whacked his arm playfully. "That's quite the compliment from you. 'You're not a moron'," she quoted mockingly, rolling her eyes. "But…I guess I should've word that better."

Silver folded his arms across his chest. "What are you getting at?" he questioned.

"Silver, we didn't talk for three years, and we were only friends back then...even if we might've been interested in each other…and…well…I guess what I want to know is…what are we now? Friends don't let friends kiss each other's necks, after all. That's not a platonic sort of thing," Lyra commented, her gaze cool but her cheeks flushed on the last comment.

Taking a sudden and overpowering interest in a flyaway hair, Silver took a moment to think, mulling over the connotation of her question. "You're trying to say that we can't have the same relationship as before," Silver pondered aloud.

"We've both changed a lot. We never would've dated back then. We probably would've never gotten the nerve or given each other the chance," Lyra said, frowning slightly. Curling her knees closer to her chest, she exhaled and added, "We can't really be friends as we are right now. It's obvious we don't think of each other like that. I think…I think we should…be…together. In a romantic sort of way." Her voice tapered off quietly at the end, and her eyebrows were furrowed with a mixture of concern and embarrassment at the blatant phrasing of her statement.

"Arceus, woman. You're acting as though I wouldn't want that, Lyra, but it's all I've wanted for four years," Silver grumbled. To prove his point, he leaned forward and kissed her on the tip of the nose. "If you're just in it for getting kissed on the neck, I'd still take everything that I can get," Silver said, smirking at her.

Her flushed cheeks burned brighter yet, and she leaned away from him, giggling nervously. "Don't be untoward, Mr. Silver! You shall make the ladies faint," she crooned in a melodramatic voice suited for an over-the-top operetta.

Silver assumed a dangerously serious expression he might've worn when he was younger. "There's nothing untoward about kissing your willing victim on the neck, you fool."

"Creepy much?" Lyra muttered, but he noticed that she'd tilted her head slightly to the side, inviting the sort of kiss on the neck he'd given her just yesterday. He glanced at her, checking for the assurance that he was allowed to do it. However, before he got far, the door open and Lyra's door walked in, hindering progress.

Dr. Millar gazed at Silver, with his head bent at a strange angle, and Lyra, with a red face, and merely sighed deeply. "At least she's awake while you're doing this," she commented wryly, earning a chorus of rebuttals from the teenagers.

* * *

Due to Lyra's early morning revival—she'd woken up a little after three in the morning—and relatively good shape in spite of undergoing a few surgeries, she was released from the hospital under the condition that Silver kept an eye out on her condition in place of a relative, since her mother was so far away. Likewise, Lyra wasn't allowed to eat solid foods or lift large amounts of weight for a while—another thing Silver had to keep an eye on.

From there they were left to navigate the unknown port of Lilycove City together. It wasn't nearly as cramped and chaotic as Slateport, but the two were turned around, nonetheless. "This is stupid," Silver muttered as they hid themselves from the sun underneath the veranda of a shop. "We need to buy plane or boat tickets and get home. Or we should try and find the others and help them out in any way we can."  
Fanning herself with a straw hat she'd bought at a nearby stand, Lyra chuckled at Silver and immediately clapped a hand to her diaphragm. Her ribs hurt her whenever she stood, especially if she laughed. "Silver, you do understand we've been running around like a bunch of Farfetch'd with our heads cut off, right? How about we find some cute little inn or a swanky hotel or something and just relax until tomorrow? I don't want you running yourself ragged when you're already supposed to be babysitting me," she informed him, a hint of a smirk Silver recognized as one similar to his own creeping onto her features. Their traits had bled into each other in their three-year hiatus, apparently.

Thinking about Lyra's suggestion, he watched an elderly couple sitting near the window of a restaurant across the way take each other's free hands, even as they read separate newspapers and occasionally took bites of sandwiches. Silver never used to believe in taking breaks and playing it cool, but there was something appealing about the idea. He figured that it had something to do with spending some one-on-one time with Lyra. After very little deliberation, he nodded. "That's not a bad idea. Let's see if we can find something relatively quiet. We can't have you getting overexcited."

"Seriously, are you my mother or what?"

"No, I don't want you to re-break the rib they had to surgically repair getting all jumpy and excited over something!"

The day began to pass in a pleasant blur. After some wandering around, they discovered a small and attractive inn called the Cove Lily that they checked into. Lyra fit in well with the people of the inn; in a red summer dress with a floor-length skirt, she looked breezy and warm, even though she was just in the hospital recovering from a series of operations earlier that day. Silver couldn't remember the flavor of ice cream he'd eaten that day or how he'd managed sand in his shoes at the beach, but he did remember the way Lyra shot him secretive little smiles in spite of the obvious pain she was in and the way that she would link her arm through his as normally as if they'd been an item for years. He also remembered the way she'd released all of her Pokémon, with Glaceon, Shuppet, and Mellow, whom she refused to put in PC boxes yet, on accident and almost capsized the floating dock they'd been standing on to watch the surfers on the beach. This was mostly because he'd laughed at her until tears leaked from his eyes and Lyra attempted to hide her face in shame. Though the moments were fairly silly or trivial, he found them far more important than the large, brazen memories he had of her as a Champion. This was her personality and her spirit in their purest form. Not only that, but those moments became the proof that she wanted to be with him and cared about what he thought and felt about her.

By the time the sun set and the stars winked to life, Silver and Lyra were sitting on the beach, gazing up at the stars. The scene was familiar to him; he remembered all of Lyra's stories about the constellations and was able to identify them, tracing his finger out in front of them and pointing them out to her. "And…that's…Canis Major…the Arcanine, right?" Silver questioned, frowning a little as he traced the constellation with his index finger.

"Yeah. It's much harder to see in the Johto at this time of year, quite honestly," Lyra muttered, almost to herself, but then she smiled. The crescent moon overhead cast her in a glimmer of pearl grays that made her look so divine and incredible to Silver. "It's been a while since we've looked at the stars like this."

"We've never looked at the stars like this," Silver commented, tentatively wrapping an arm around Lyra's shoulder. As he pulled her closer, she pressed a kiss to the hinge of his jaw and rested her forehead against his neck, making his heart accelerate dangerously in his chest.

Lyra seemed to smile into the crook of his shoulder. "Some people would probably kill you for being snarky, but it's one of my favorite things about you, you know."

"I'm just happy that you like me at all, honestly."

"Selling yourself short?" Lyra muttered, earning a low growl from Silver that made her laugh. The two fired their rapid banter back and forth as they giggled, kissed and embraced deep into the night.

High above, the crescent moon grinned knowingly down on the most unlikely of young lovers.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to the final chapter of It's Been A While-aside from the epilogue, which I haven't had a chance to start on yet. Anyway, this just sort of ends the problem the beasts present and there will be more closure in the epilogue.  
_

_So...was that fluffy enough for you guys? Kissing? Confessions? LOVE?! This story ended up being far more of that than I'd originally planned, actually. This was originally going to be a lot darker with a bittersweet ending, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to my OTP...  
_

_I don't have a lot to say today, which is quite unusual. I guess I don't have anything I feel like I need to justify with this chapter aside from a lack of closure with the Pokemon that had become beasts, what Lyra and Silver's friends are doing, etc. And also Morty is still on everyone's crap list, but it just might remain that way for fun._

_Thank you all so much for reading. You're incredible, guys. I've worked really hard to give you guys a decent fic, and this is also my first totally finished fic! Whoo! And it's also my first serious attempt at a Pokemon fic, too, so I had no idea this would become so popular amongst the Soulsilvershippers!_

_Please leave a review for this chapter. I'll be glancing at them as I decide the most tactful way to write the epilogue and close out the ending of It's Been A While, which I started writing exactly seven months ago from yesterday, actually, and it was going to be a one-shot at the time. Look how things change!  
_

_I promise the epilogue will come up within the next week or so, and then I'll write my official end-note there._

_Be safe, everyone!_


	26. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. But if I did, there'd be an option for Miror B-esque afros in the customizable character thing in Pokemon X and Y.

* * *

**Four Months Later:**

"I still don't know how Steven managed all of this. It's crazy."

"I still don't know why he offered to do it; were the two of you ever that close of friends in the first place?"

"We trained together and I listened to him fangirl about various types of evolutionary stones. Most people don't put up with that. And he feels like he owes us after I cured Giratina like that and all."

"So you're still too nice to everyone, then?"

"I thought you knew that by now."

"Heh…well, here's to your seventeenth year of being too nice to everyone."

Lyra planted a kiss to Silver's cheek in the much-too-glamorous ballroom of the Kanto and Johto Pokémon League. The tint of jealousy in his voice had no reason to be there, but she was fairly certain he was just looking for her to give him some extra TLC. "You can just say 'happy birthday', you know. It's a less complicated version of what you just said," she teased.

"Your birthday has been pretty damned complicated so far; I'm just keeping with the fashion," he grumbled, tugging at one of the curls that spilled from the bun her hair had been styled into. Of course, Steven had organized a complicated, fancy sort of birthday party—it was a borderline gala, in honestly—and this sort of shindig required tuxedos and formal dresses. Approximately two weeks ago, Kris and Kuni had conspired to take Lyra out to a fashion boutique in Celadon City, which ended in Lyra choosing a strapless, crimson and mermaid-cut dress with a relatively modest neckline and golden embroidery on the bodice. Whenever Silver thought Lyra wasn't looking, he snatched glances at her figure with what would best be described as hungry eyes. Likewise, Lyra couldn't help but eye up Silver in his tuxedo. It was jet-black and paired with a black dress shirt and a white bowtie. Quite frankly, he was hot. Lyra understood that there was far more to him than that, but she found his attractiveness to be incredibly prominent tonight. His hair was knotted cleanly at the base of his neck, but as always, untamable strands spiked and fell into his face and gave him the quietly serious look he had that was so incredibly attractive.

Lyra turned to reply to him before getting interrupted by none other than Morty. He still retained his tan from the Hoenn in spite of the time gap—something he very rarely gained, due to his normally nocturnal schedule. "Lyra," he greeted coolly, but glanced at Silver nervously. The two Trainers hadn't gotten along ever since Morty had sent in one member of his Gengar duo into the Distortion World and almost got Lyra and Mellow killed as a result. "Happy birthday. Are you honestly seventeen now?"

"I can't really believe it myself," Lyra admitted, fiddling with a bangle on her wrist. "Have you seen Kris and Kuni at all tonight? I have to show them this dress," she said, smoothing the wrinkled fabric on her belly. It was just a touch large for her, tending to wrinkle and ride up a little when she moved.

"Kuni and her sister have been arguing ever since they walked in, and it's probably best to not disturb her right now. But…well…Kris and Ethan were talking on the veranda and started…snogging," he said, his nose scrunching with distaste.

Silver and Lyra exchanged surprised glances. "What the hell? You mean prissy-sissy Ethan and action hero Kris? The Kris who dumped him and made him follow Lyra and me for weeks crying? Are you sure?" Silver demanded. "Or is there some other Ethan you're talking about?"

Morty nodded slowly, looking faintly disgusted at the thought of it. After a moment's silence, he said, "Well, Karen wanted to talk to me about her Gengar. Don't let me find you doing what I caught Ethan and Kris doing," he warned, and then strode away. Lyra watched him go, and she noticed Steven nearby, chatting with the various Gym Leaders, Trainers, and relatives of Lyra's that he invited. He was pleasantly sociable, not in the smarmy way that Eusine was.

Silver nudged Lyra. "I want to go say something to Pryce."

"Don't let me stop you," Lyra said back, stretching up onto her toes to press a kiss to Silver's lips. He responded with tightly-reigned control before walking away. It had been four months, but every kiss they exchanged still filled her with a toe-curling sort of warmth, as did every smile he flashed at her. She didn't imagine that the feeling would change anytime soon.

Sweeping through the crowd, she talked to everyone who'd came. Gym Leaders and Elite Four members from the Kanto and Johto greeted her, while family members and friends hugged her and asked her the same questions over and over. Much to her shock, she saw her father, a stocky, auburn-haired man in his early forties, in the crowd, carrying a blonde boy of about two with him. _Guess I didn't know I had a little brother, let alone a new wife or girlfriend, _she thought, noticing that the boy's face bore resemblance to her father's. Yet, it didn't surprise her.

Turning away from her estranged father's presence for the time being, she ran straight into a person who had apparently been standing behind her. Lyra glanced up and noticed that it was Red, dressed in a simple gray suit coupled with a white dress shirt and a black bowtie. His russet eyes burned all the brighter against the neutral tones he wore. Not to her surprise, Lyra didn't feel the pangs of unrequited affection she once had looking up at him. "Hey, Red," she greeted casually, smiling up at him. "Long time, no see."

Red looked at her awkwardly. In his quiet bass voice, he said, "Hello."

"Glad to see you tonight! How are you doing tonight?" Lyra asked, nudging him in a friendly manner.

He shrugged. "I'm all right. You?"

"It's been quite the birthday so far. Steven can organize quite the party," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the politely social man with silvery-blue hair. "Have you had any good challengers as Champion? Any youngsters we old hats should worry about?"

Red seemed to notice Lyra's forgiveness, and the relief was evident in his voice as he said, "Not really. There was this really quiet girl from Blackthorn City. Clair's second cousin or something. She defeated three of my Pokémon."

"Is she solely a Dragon-type Trainer?" Lyra asked.

Before he could answer, a familiar face bobbed up to Red's shoulder. A pretty, oval-faced girl with bright green eyes and straight, sandy hair in a long-sleeved, floor-length emerald dress smiled at Lyra. "Happy birthday, Lyra!" she greeted.

"Oh, thanks! Hey there, Leaf," Lyra responded, smiling at her. Minus the wide-brimmed white hat and sheathed in the tightly-fitted dress, Leaf looked older than her nineteen years. "You are absolutely stunning tonight," she remarked to the old friend of Red. The two had met when Lyra had travelled up to the top of Mt. Silver to give Red a coat and gloves for Christmas and immediately hit it off as friends, even if they didn't see each over very frequently.

Leaf smiled, flashing white teeth. Though she was by no means drop-dead gorgeous, she possessed a natural, unassuming sort of beauty and charm Lyra seldom saw in young women. "Oh, thank you. Daisy and I went dress-shopping. I almost bought a black one like this, but…green is more my color," she admitted with a light chuckle, a single dimple flashing in her right cheek.

Red glanced down at her. Color rose to his face, and Lyra noticed that his eyes traced along her figure in a not-so-subtle way. "Green works for you," he said quietly to her.

"Oh…thank you," Leaf said, shocked at her friend's comment. Lyra suppressed a giggle; the words that Red had just spoken were more in the vein of Blue, although his comments tended to be borderline womanizing and oftentimes less…innocent.

After a few more pleasantries, Lyra peeled away from Leaf and Red. Something in Red's posture suggested he no longer felt bad about his sudden sense of cold feet with the short relationship he'd had with Lyra, and that was good enough for her. She didn't want him to look at her and feel like he'd simply dumped her aside. After all, whether or not he developed romantic feelings for her was not his fault—nor was it her own, and therefore, it was nothing more than simple history now.

She walked back to where Silver now stood, a glazed-over expression on his face. Pressing her fingers to his, Lyra asked, "You all right?"

"I've talked to too many people I don't know," Silver muttered, linking his fingers through hers. Gazing down at her, his eyes travelled over her dress, lingering in places that made Lyra's face hot. He bent down and brought his lips close to her ear, quietly adding, "That dress is incredible on you."

"Thank you," Lyra murmured back.

Lips still near her ear, Silver pressed a kiss just under her ear before whispering, "Bet it'd look great off, too."

Lyra's entire body seemed to shake with the connotations of what he'd just said. However, she merely shrugged and said, "This is supposed to make me look like I have a desirable body. You're just letting yourself get tricked."

Silver rolled his eyes, and then gestured toward a simple door set deep into the wall nearby. "I'm going down there. Right below this banquet hall or whatever is an underground pool, and that door leads to it. I'm tired of dealing with other people tonight when all I want is to spend time with you." Gazing at her with suggestive red eyes, he said, "I'll be waiting." He released his loose grip on her fingers and pressed a kiss to her temple.

_Oh Arceus, _Lyra thought, pressing her fingers to her temples as Silver disappeared. _This was one of the more modest dresses I tried on, and he's still treating it like some seductress's cocktail dress of doom. _Tugging the strapless number up for good measure, she quickly glanced around, and not long after Silver did, she absconded swiftly without catching any attention. In spite of the fact that it was Lyra's birthday party, most of the guests were far more interested in socializing with other people than her. She honestly didn't mind; it meant she could steal a moment or two with Silver.

Upon opening the door, Lyra realized that she would be teetering down a flight of steps to the pool area below on three-inch high heels. _If I die, it's Silver's fault, _she thought grumpily. She carefully descended the narrow flight of stairs and came to the bottom. Sure enough, there was an underground pool at the bottom; however, considering that the pool was surrounded with magnificent columns and the floor and walls were carved from marble, it was like no underground pool Lyra had ever seen. Not that she'd seen many. In all of her years as Champion, she'd never used it, oftentimes because Will monopolized it and she spent much of her time avoiding him.

Carefully peeling her strappy high heels off of her feet, Lyra tossed them aside and called, "Silver! You around?"

After a loud splash, a sopping wet head broke the surface of the water. Lyra laughed at the sight of Silver, dragging himself partially out of the pool to hang off the edge. "That was fast," he said approvingly, smirking.

"Of course…what are you swimming in?" Lyra asked.

"A pool."

"I mean…what are you wearing?" she asked, her voice a little uncertain. Not that long ago he'd just been wearing a tuxedo. If he was skinny-dipping Lyra swore that she would turn and walk straight back up the stairs to go back to the party.

Silver sighed, his face slightly red. "Um…my boxers…" he admitted, a little shamefaced. Turning that attitude completely on its head, Silver growled, "Don't you even start to castigate me over that."

"Aren't you the one who always tells me to stop using the big words in day-to-day conversations?" Lyra joked. With a more serious expression, she asked, "Do you want me to come in?"

"I mean…if you want to," Silver said, seemingly taken aback. "What are you going to do?"

Lyra reached to her side, unhooking the tiny hook and tugging at the zipper. "Same thing you are?" she said in a sassy voice, returning the smirk he'd shot at her earlier.

Silver stared at her like she had declared herself the queen of the Dunsparce as she tugged the zipper lower. Rolling her eyes, Lyra muttered, "For the love of Arceus, you've seen me in a swimsuit. Bras and panties are basically the same thing."

"No. They're not. Not to guys."

The dress hanging open loosely, she tugged the rest of it off and sauntered over to him. Granted, when she said swimsuit, she was talking about a red polka-dotted tankini that revealed some of her midriff, and not exactly a black strapless bra and panties. Sitting on the side of the pool by him, she raised her eyebrows. "You're freaking out over nothing," she said, though she felt incredibly exposed sitting next to him.

He slid over to her, planting his hands outside of her thighs and propping himself up against the side of the pool, and let his eyes roam over her. "You certainly aren't nothing," he muttered as he allowed his gaze to roam up to her.

Lyra smiled bashfully. Tugging at a loose strand of hair that tumbled from her bun, she responded, "If Raikou heard you say that, he'd totally fangirl, you know that, right?"

Silver tugged himself up onto the side of the pool, sitting beside her. However, it didn't stay that way for long. With a lazy sort of grace, kind of like a Persian hooking his paw around the dish of cream he wanted to drink, Silver wrapped his arm around Lyra's waist and tugged her onto his lap. "He might be a Pokémon, but I don't care to hear about another guy right now," he growled in a low voice, dragging a ragged breath from Lyra's chest with his words. Compared to his tone, his eyes were softer and warmer, completely molten for once in his life, and Silver tugged Lyra completely against him, kissing the tip of her nose, her eyelids, her cheekbones…kissing every feature on her face, tasting her skin, listening to the catch in her breath.

It was unfair. Lyra groaned deep in her throat and pushed herself into him, kissing him fiercely on the lips. The past four months had solidified a deep, aching need for this boy she owed her well-being to, and being teased by him was not enough. "Love me, you tease," Lyra muttered against his lips.

"I do, stupid," Silver said sincerely, taking her face in his hands as he pressed a kiss against her lips that was far gentler than what Lyra was hoping for. "Of course I do."

"I meant kiss me like you mean it. Quit being a tease," Lyra groaned as his lips travelled south, roaming over her neck and jaw.

"Keeps you coming back for more, doesn't it?" Silver asked her wryly, his voice absorbed by the curve of her neck.

Lyra forced herself to peel away from the intoxicating quality of his kisses. Crossing her arms, she said, "Well, there's more than just your incredible kissing that keeps me here."

"Like what?"

"I fell in love with your determination, you know," Lyra admitted, looking him straight in the eyes. "And slowly…I began to love the rest of you. I love how determined you are to be a good man after your father was such a terrible one, and how you were determined to be a hero, even if you didn't think you acted like one. I love how you came to love your Pokémon, even if you weren't great at showing it. I love how you put up with my overenthusiastic attitude. I love that subtle smirk you get when you know you're right…I love so much about you. You think you aren't a good person, but I see a lot that is good and redeeming about you. Even that smirk," Lyra added, suddenly feeling as though she'd bared her soul to the entire world.

Silver gazed at her with some shock. "…seriously?" He whispered, clearly at a loss for words for once in his life.

"Yeah," Lyra said. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed a kiss to his forehead before seeking his lips. Before she kissed him, she murmured, "It's been a while since we could just openly talk like this, you know."

Silver gave a genuine smile as she pulled away. He pulled her tightly against him and laid back, letting her rest against his chest by the side of the pool. Eyes closed, he said, "Happy birthday."

"You already said that."

He opened one eye balefully. "I'm being nice. Don't interrupt me."

"You have to go thank Steven later for making any of this possible."

"Quit bringing up other guys when we're like this!"

"What even _is _this?"

"Love, you moron."

Lyra sighed and propped herself up on one elbow, gazing down at Silver. "Keep it that way," she threatened jokingly, poking his bare chest.

Silver flipped their position so that he straddled Lyra's hips. With a wry grin on his face, he pressed a rather chaste kiss to her forehead in spite of the rather unchaste position they were in. As he pulled a way, a warmth flooded into his eyes that belonged only to Lyra. "Don't worry, I plan on it."

And even if there were three years of nothingness before the comparatively short four months of this romantic intensity, Lyra knew Silver wasn't kidding, and that one day, there'd be a wedding with vibrant flowers and a comfortable home life with a sense of family and love, no matter what sort of relationship they'd make. It had been a while since Lyra had thought about such serious things in relation to romance. Yet, she knew those thoughts were safe with Silver.

His words rang through her ears as they kissed again. _"Don't worry, I plan on it." _

She believed him.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, and welcome to the epilogue, also known as the wrapping up of It's Been A While, my first major fanfiction project.__ After everything I put you guys through, I decided you all deserved a sweet, happy ending with intense amounts of fluff and a crazy, fancy party thrown by none other than the infallible Steven Stone (and also a mention of Lyra's father-there have been a number of people who wanted to know where he is and what he's doing in this story. Might I just reiterate he's in the Unova and remarried with a son.)  
_

_For those of you wondering why I left Lyra and her father's relationship like that, I feel that there is no need for reconciliation. When someone hurts you badly and it ruins your life, do you really want to reconcile with them? That's what I *hopefully* hinted at well here._

_So...anyway...here's my final note to the readers._

_Thank you so much for all of the love and gusto you've put forth when reading the twenty-six chapters of this fic. It's unbelievable-I had no idea it'd become this popular! To those of you who regularly reviewed and read and PM-ed me enthusiastically, I owe you a lot. I almost stopped on this fic entirely twice before I started publishing it, and as I started publishing it, you became a reminder to my past self that, even if it seems stupid to you, many others will enjoy it. Frankly, I'm a terrible critic of myself. I'd also like to thank you for putting up with random hiatuses that messed with my posting regularity, such as band practices, camps, and family gatherings. I'm so grateful to have such kind readers!  
_

_For now...I will be taking a hiatus as I work on settling into a rhythm of school-take ten minutes to breathe-homework-practice-homework-food-at home practicing-shower-(30 minutes of writing time?)-bed. I have restarted work on a fic that I started around the same time as IBAW, but I doubt I will be publishing anything from that for quite a while yet...it's the Sequelshipping one I think I've mentioned before, if any of you are into Rosa and Hugh as a pairing. Since I'm in school, if I start posting it, updates will become infrequent, and I apologize.  
_

_Ah. I digress._

_So once again, just...thank you. Your views and reviews and favorites mean so much to me. Over 120 thousand words later, I'll completed my first fanfic, and I promise more in the future! I hope one day, I can write more Soulsilvershipping for those of you who love it so dearly, since you all appreciated this story so much.  
_

_Everyone stay safe! Eat your vegetables! Don't stay up reading torrid manga until 3 in the morning on a school night! Remember to turn off your headlights after parking your car at night so you don't drain your battery! Don't sing in the shower if your neighbor owns a 12-Gauge and an itchy trigger finger!_

_Love,  
_

_Mars_


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